


Sunlight and Storms

by twofoursixohone



Category: Love Island (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Bisexual Female Character, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Love Triangles, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, characters from all three seasons, kinda enemies to lovers?? more annoyance to lovers really, mentions of marisol/mc too, more tags to be added soon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:14:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26826457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twofoursixohone/pseuds/twofoursixohone
Summary: Bobby moves to London to work at Jake's restaurant, and things get complicated when he meets his boss' sister...[ON HIATUS]
Relationships: Bobby McKenzie/Main Character (Love Island), Ibrahim/Priya (Love Island), Jake Wilson/Main Character (Love Island), Lottie/Gary Rennell, Marisol/Lily, Miles/Iona
Comments: 24
Kudos: 49





	1. London

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! It's been a looooong while since I've written any fanfic, and I'm a little nervous posting this because I feel like my writing is suuuuper rusty but I'm just so excited about this idea! This fanfic is Bobby/S2MC (with a side pairing of Jake/S1MC and various other side couples), and will include characters from all three seasons!
> 
> Hope you enjoy! ❤️

Bobby loved London.

It was everything he’d ever imagined it would be when he was a kid. Growing up, his family hadn’t had a lot of money, and so all of their holidays had been somewhere up in the Highlands with his grandparents, or some sort of road trip around the country, dipping across the border on occasion. Every few years, they’d manage to save up enough to fly over to Jamaica to stay with the other side of his family, and those were some of his favourite holidays, but the first place he’d gone when he’d earned a little bit of spare cash was London, and he’d struggled to stay away ever since.

When his flatmate Miles burst through the door of their Glasgow apartment, proclaiming that he’d just landed Bobby the best job interview ever, he’d been sceptical to say the least. That was, until he found out that the redhead had called in a little favour with his old uni mate Jake, and now Bobby was potentially going to be working in the centre of London at an up-and-coming new restaurant.

“You’re welcome,” Miles had smirked, and Bobby had rolled his eyes, but pulled him into a massive (and very floury, considering he’d been interrupted in the middle of baking) hug nevertheless.

“You’re the best!” he’d cheered, thanking him over and over and over, until his roommate had shoved him off with a laugh.

“You’d better get packing McKenzie. When they taste your food, they won’t be able to say no.”

And they hadn’t. A week later, Bobby was on a train back to Glasgow from his interview in London, his phone burning a hole in his pocket as he desperately waited for the call. It had rung when he was on the way home, and he’d scrambled to pick it up, his leg jiggling from the nerves that were coursing through his body.

“Hello, Bobby McKenzie speaking?” he’d blurted out, cringing at the eagerness in his voice.

“Hello Bobby,” the voice on the other end was none other than the owner himself, “We’d like to speak to you about your application to work at _Wilson’s_?”

He’d screamed in the taxi, and earned himself a dirty look in return, but he didn’t care. He was moving to London. He was finally on his way to achieving his dream.

* * *

Bobby missed Glasgow.

He loved London. He loved the lifestyle, the people (especially his co-workers), and the way the city looked at night. He loved his job, so _so_ much, and he had pretty good flatmates too, if a little loud. But, _god_ did he miss his home. It had only been a few weeks, granted, but he was starting to get restless. What if this wasn’t a good idea after all?

“You’re overthinking things, mate,” Miles had reassured him, even though Bobby could practically hear his eyes rolling over the phone, “You’ve only been there a couple weeks. You just need to settle in a bit more.”

“But I miss youuuu,” Bobby had whined in response, and the redhead had just let out a chuckle in response.

“I miss you too. But at least now I can bring Iona round more without you hearing us through the walls.”

“The Aberdeen lass?”

“Aye. I feel sorry for my new roommate.”

“So do I. I could hear your snoring every night from my room, those walls were so thin,” he’d teased.

“I don’t think he’s been getting much sleep either way,” Miles had laughed, and Bobby had grinned in spite of his worries.

“Neither am I. This Noah likes to snore just as bad as you do.”

“Can’t even escape it in London, eh?” the redhead had replied, “Look, just stick it out a bit longer. It’ll look good for your CV, if nothing else.”

“I guess so,” Bobby had sighed. Miles was right. He could stick it out a bit longer. After all, working at _Wilson’s_ brought him closer to his dream every single day, and he wasn’t about to miss out on that.

* * *

It was the end of another exhausting shift, and Bobby was just about ready to dive under his duvet and never resurface when his boss approached him. Jake was a pretty great guy in all honesty; he was a talented chef and an all-round nice person, and Bobby could see them being friends outside of work, even if he could be a little bit quiet for his liking sometimes.

“Bobby!” Jake smiled at him, clapping him on the back, “Mind staying back a little later?”

Bobby eyed Rocco, one of the servers, who was chatting to the leggy brunette bartender. By some stroke of luck, they’d realised they lived in adjacent apartment buildings, and so had been travelling home from work together whenever they had a shift at the same time. He was a pretty interesting guy; like most of the servers, he was just there for a bit of extra income on the side. His real business, he proclaimed, was his food truck, which he served his own creations from at festivals and markets. Like Bobby, he had dreams of opening his own place, although Bobby could sense that for Rocco it would probably be more of a mobile business than anything else. The man was always talking about travelling, after all.

He looked back at Jake, “Yeah, ‘course, can do. I’ll need to let Rocco know though, we go home together.”

In all honesty, he was a little worried about what Jake wanted. Had he been underperforming? Had somebody complained about his food? Suddenly, he was terrified of leaving a life he had only just begun way too soon.

“No worries,” Jake smiled, “I promise it won’t take too long, and if you need a lift back I’m sure Val wouldn’t mind me taking a little detour to drop you off.”

Valerie, or Val as he called her, was Jake’s fiancée. The dictionary definition of a fiery redhead, she’d been hired to manage the social media for the restaurant, and they’d hit it off pretty much immediately judging by what Jake had told him. From the few times Bobby had met her, he’d liked her and her straightforward manner. She wasn’t someone he’d immediately assume Jake would go for, but he supposed opposites attract, and they worked incredibly well together, balancing each other out perfectly.

“Sure, thanks!” Bobby returned the smile, still feeling nerves bundle in the pit of his stomach, before sidling over to Rocco, sliding into the stool next to him.

“So,” he began, and the curly-haired man raised an eyebrow at him, “I can’t go home with you today. Jake wants to talk to me, and I don’t want to keep you waiting, since I’m not sure how long he’ll want me.”

“Hmm,” Rocco pretended to think, before a smile broke out on his face, “That’s cool mate. I think I’ve convinced Leggy over here to come home with me anyway. Wouldn’t want you to third wheel or anything.”

“It’s Allegra,” the brunette behind the bar scowled, “And you _definitely_ haven’t. Not in a million years.”

Rocco shrugged in response, a smirk on his face.

“It’s only a matter of time before you say yes.”

“In your dreams. You know I have a boyfriend, right?”

“Oh right, that guy who allegedly owns a castle,” Rocco rolled his eyes, “Like I believe that.”

“He’s real!” Allegra insisted, placing the glass she was cleaning down on the bar a little harder than perhaps she’d intended.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Bobby chuckled, getting up and moving to join Jake. His boss rubbed his hands together, eyes trained on the door, and Bobby could feel his leg turn to jelly from how nervous he was getting.

“Val’ll be here in a second,” Jake began, not looking at him, “But I guess I should fill you in first on what’s going on. So, my little sister works for a charity, and they’ve asked us to cater one of their balls. I’d like you to be involved in making that happen.”

“Me?” Bobby’s eyes widened. He _definitely_ hadn’t expected that; after all, he was the newbie, and there were plenty of seasoned chefs who Jake could ask to help out, “Why?”

“I told her about your baking skills, and El’s got a bit of a sweet tooth, so she’s already hyped it up to her co-workers. Plus, this isn’t the first time we’ve catered one of those events, and as the new kid, I thought it would be interesting to throw you in at the deep end.”

Bobby nodded, “Okay. Yeah, sure, I’d be interested!”

He tried not to sound overly enthusiastic, but inside he was jumping for joy. Jake trusted in him enough to let him be the chef for his own sister’s event, and not only that, but he was going to get to bake for it? It seemed almost too good to be true. Finally, things were looking up for him.

“Perfect!” Jake grinned at him, before turning back to the door as it opened, “Ah, here they are now.”

First through the door was Valerie, her ridiculously long ginger hair bouncing with each movement and her phone in hand, as it usually was. Besides being the social media coordinator for the restaurant, she was also an influencer, and so her phone was practically glued to her side. It was no surprise that she was there for the meeting; something like a charity ball was bound to drum up plenty of business for the restaurant, and so she was likely going to be invited to document it all.

“Sorry we’re late! Traffic was a nightmare, honestly I don’t know why I even try to drive in this city,” she rolled her eyes, giving Jake a quick peck on the cheek once she reached them, “Hey Bobby, has Jake filled you in?”

“Yeah, and I’m pretty excited for it!” he couldn’t disguise the smile that worked its way to his lips, and Valerie beamed at him in response.

“Good, because we’re expecting great things from you.”

His head snapped to the source of the voice. Stood just a little behind Valerie was a brunette woman who he hadn’t even noticed walk in, as he was too busy talking to the redhead. She looked to be about his height in heels and was dressed in business attire, with her hair curled to perfection, not a single strand out of place. It was pretty obvious that she was somehow related to Jake; they shared the same brown eyes and long lashes, and when she smiled at him, they looked so freakishly similar (and so ridiculously beautiful) that they could have been twins. As her gaze rested on him, Bobby could feel his heart stutter a little in his chest. Damn, now he wished he’d had the chance to change out of his sweaty chef’s attire…

“I’m Elinor Wilson, Jake’s half-sister. You must be Bobby McKenzie?” she held out a hand – also perfectly manicured – for him to shake.

_Time to turn on the charm._

“The one and only,” his hand enveloped hers, shaking it up and down perhaps a bit too vigorously. Her hand was soft and petite, and he was surprised at how well it fit into his, not that he was thinking _too_ hard about it.

“Nice to meet you,” there was a small smile on her red-painted lips as she pulled her hand away. He couldn’t help the grin that broke across his face.

“Good to see you El,” Jake grinned at his sister, pulling her into a bear hug. Elinor immediately moved away from him, swatting at his arm with a small smile on her face.

“It’s _Elinor_ , Jake! What part of ‘this is a professional business meeting’ don’t you understand?” she scowled, but it was clearly playful, “Come on, let’s sit down and sort this out.”

Jake just laughed in response, taking Valerie’s hand and leading the group over to one of the tables. Bobby followed, sneaking another glance at Elinor as she walked ever so slightly in front. She was so pretty it was almost unfair, really…

But she was definitely off the table, considering she was related to his boss. That would just be unprofessional, and as homesick as he was, he wasn’t quite ready to be sent packing just yet. Besides, now was the time to focus on the task at hand, and that was the charity ball. His love life (or rather, his disappointing lack of one) could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading! ❤️ Please do leave a kudos or a comment if you want, they make my day! ❤️


	2. Cheesecake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! First of all, thank you so so much for your lovely comments on Chapter One! They really do make my day, and I'm so glad you guys are liking the story so far, especially since it's been honestly ages since I've written anything. I'm going to aim for a chapter per week, hopefully I'll be able to stick to that (not like I've got anything else going on in my life honestly)! I'm also hoping to maybe make a playlist for this story, but my music taste is mostly musical theatre so it's a little hard to find songs 😂
> 
> Anyway, on with the story! Hope you enjoy!

“Mr McKenzie?” Elinor’s voice broke Bobby out of his thoughts, and he jumped a little in his chair, his cheeks going red, “Are you paying attention?”

Admittedly, he had not been listening. Business meetings weren’t really his thing, and the moment they’d started to discuss the financial aspects of the ball catering, he’d immediately began to zone out. The majority of the discussion had been between Jake and Elinor anyway, with Valerie chiming in ever so often, and he was beginning to wonder why he was even there in the first place…

That, and he was daydreaming about the brownies he was planning on baking on his day off.

“Oh, uh, yeah, sorry,” he stammered, sitting up properly to make sure he looked fully engaged, “And, um, please call me Bobby.”

She cocked a perfect eyebrow at him, and his face grew even redder, “I was just asking whether you had any particular dishes in mind that you think would work for an event like this. I’ve heard especially good things about your dessert skills, so that’s really what I’d like to hear about, Mr McKenzie.”

Okay, so they weren’t on a first name basis just yet (not that he’d expected to be, all things considered), but Bobby’s excitement at getting to discuss some of his favourite bakes made him instantly forget about that fact.

“Well, I’ve been working on a new pastry!” he confessed eagerly, leaning forward ever so slightly, “It’s called the Bobbywich, for now anyway. The name is a work in progress… but it’s super good! Oh, and there’s also this really cool dessert I make that’s shaped like a haggis, but then you cut into it and it’s cake! Gets ‘em every time. I just have to make a few tweaks-“

“Actually,” she interrupted, a frown on her face, “I was wondering if you could make something more… classic?”

Oh. So she didn’t want his own ideas, she wanted something more ‘classic’, which was another word for normal and boring. Honestly, he should have expected that; Elinor seemed incredibly professional, so obviously she would take something so important to her job seriously. He really should have seen that coming.

“Classic,” he repeated slowly, trying to hold back his frown at her reaction, “Aye, I can do that. Like a cheesecake, or a souffle or something? A dessert off the menu here maybe?”

“Cheesecake sounds lovely,” she replied, and Bobby inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. At least she liked that suggestion, although he was still feeling a little stung by how readily she’d struck down his initial ideas. Sure, his desserts were mostly experimental, but he’d tried them out with Miles and the rest of his mates in Glasgow many a time and they’d all loved his baking! Then again, weren’t charity balls just to butter up a bunch of old people and convince them to donate their retirement funds to the cause? He could imagine they wouldn’t want to cut open a haggis just for it to be cake, if that was the case. He felt pretty stupid for even daring to suggest those ideas as an option, and the look on Elinor’s face told him that he was right to feel that way.

About half an hour later, the meeting finally came to a close. After his first dish was rejected, Bobby had managed to gauge what sort of thing Elinor was looking for dessert-wise, and luckily Jake had picked out the starters and mains from the restaurant menu. He just had to show up and cook, really. Pretty simple stuff.

“Right, Bobby,” Valerie smiled at him as they got up, “You still need that lift?”

He nodded, “If you’re still offering, Val.”

“I am indeed.”

“Then let me just get changed quickly. Don’t want your car to smell like a greasy kitchen after I’ve been in it.”

Valerie laughed, before Jake wrapped an arm around her waist and whispered something into her ear. Bobby took that as his cue to make his way to the staff bathroom to get changed into something a little less chef-like. As he stripped off quickly, he couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips. Jake must have really trusted him to choose him to be the head chef for the ball, and that made his chest feel a little warm. He’d had his doubts about moving to London, too many to count, but it seemed his risky move had paid off, and he couldn’t wait to tell Miles about how things were looking up. It would make a nice change from all of his anguished phone calls, begging the redhead to let him come back, anyway.

When he emerged, it was just Elinor waiting by the doors, her foot tapping a little as she typed something on her phone. He held his hand up to wave at her, but thought better of it, and lowered it slowly.

“Hey,” he still decided to smile as he approached her. She looked up from her phone, giving him a cursory smile in return, before looking back down at her screen. Ouch, clearly she wasn’t in the mood for talking. Bobby shoved his hands in his pockets, looking down and rocking back and forth on his feet.

“Sorry,” she finally replied after a minute, putting her phone into her handbag, “Work’s still super busy, even at this time of night. No rest for the wicked, it seems.”

“That’s cool,” he shrugged, “I get it, I mean, I didn’t even know we were having a meeting until the end of my shift, so it’s been busy for me too.”

“Oh, sorry about that too,” she gave him another smile, this one more sympathetic than the last, “It was kind of a last-minute thing. Jake assured me you’d be able to do it.”

“It’s fine, really! I’m excited about everything,” he insisted, “And I promise I’ll make the best desserts you’ve ever had. Everyone there will have no choice but to donate once they taste my cheesecake.”

Perhaps he was being a little arrogant, but after his obvious faux pas earlier, he wasn’t leaving anything to chance. He wanted to make sure everything he did was perfect, to prove that he could handle it.

“Well, I hope you’re right about that.”

They were interrupted by Jake and Valerie emerging from the kitchen, hand in hand.

“Ready to go?” Jake smiled at Bobby, and he returned it.

“Ready.”

“Good. You’ll have to give Val the address then, she’s our chauffeur for the evening.”

The redhead gave him a playful look, before pulling him out to her car, and Bobby followed close behind. Once more, he was lost in his thoughts, barely registering the click of Elinor’s heels as she walked faster to keep up with them.

“So, are you a Bobby or a Robert?”

He was a little taken aback by the random question, but judging by the curious look on her face as he turned to look at her, it was a serious query. He could feel his cheeks flush a little from her attention, even despite the biting cold.

“Just Bobby. Definitely not Robert, that’s what my granny calls me,” he chuckled quietly, scratching the back of his neck.

“Bobby. Noted.”

They both fell quiet again, with only the sound of their footsteps and laughter from the couple in front to be heard. When the two of them reached the car, he automatically opened her door for her, and in response, she raised an eyebrow, before doing the most elegant slide into the car that he’d ever seen.

“Thank you, Bobby.”

There was a smile on her face, and he smiled back, definitely registering the fact that she’d referred to him by his first name instead of formalities. Maybe that had all been an act for the business meeting.

“You’re alright,” he responded, getting in his side and doing his seatbelt up.

“Alright, Bobby, what’s the address?” Val leaned over the back of the driver’s seat to smile at him, “Hopefully traffic won’t be too heinous at this time of night.”

He gave it to her, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Elinor’s face scrunch up ever so slightly. Valerie just nodded in response, before starting the car up and pulling out of the car park.

“Do you…” the brunette began once they were on the road, and he turned to look at her, “happen to know someone named Gary Rennell?”

Bobby raised his eyebrows, “Aye, actually, he’s my flatmate. You know him?”

She nodded in response, and he frowned ever so slightly. From the look on her face, he could sense there was perhaps a little animosity there, but he wisely decided not to ask about what had occurred between the two of them. He didn’t want her to see him in a bad light or anything, not when she could very easily ask for someone else to cater the ball instead. Better to keep on her good side for now.

The rest of the ride was mostly silent, bar Val singing tunelessly along to the radio, which even provoked a quiet laugh from Elinor. When they reached his place, he thanked both Valerie and Jake, before closing the door behind him.

“See you in a couple days!” Jake smiled cheerfully at him, before driving off. Bobby released a deep breath he hadn’t even realised he had been holding, before making his way into the building.

* * *

The next day was his day off, and so he awoke pretty early in the morning to head to the corner shop and grab some ingredients. Luckily, he was able to get everything he needed (a rare occasion indeed when it came to that particular shop, he had come to realise), so when he returned, he immediately set to work. Practice made perfect, that was what his mum had always told him, and if he was going to make the perfect cheesecake for the ball, he certainly needed to practice.

“What smells so good?” his roommate, Gary emerged from his bedroom, yawning slightly. It was his day off too, and Bobby had learned that on those days, he rarely awoke before midday unless he smelled food. Bobby swore that the man had the nose of a sniffer dog; it was like he could just sense when the oven was on.

“Cheesecake,” he smiled proudly, his hands still covered in flour, “And cupcakes… I had some leftover ingredients.”

“Jesus, are we hosting a dinner party or something?” the blond chuckled, sitting down at the kitchen counter, “Am I allowed a taste?”

“Once it’s done, yeah! You and Noah, when he gets back, but you can lick the bowl.”

His other roommate was probably at the library by that point, surrounded by screaming kids. Not that Noah seemed to mind; he was pretty good with children and seemed to know exactly how to keep them entertained.

“This is why you’re my favourite roommate,” Gary winked, grabbing the spoon to lick, and Bobby laughed as he crouched down to check his bakes through the oven door. He hadn’t known either of the two men before he’d moved in with them, but they’d become fast friends (which was definitely helped by Bobby’s cooking), and they had already integrated him into their wider friendship group. From what Bobby had gathered in the short time he’d lived with them, Gary was the more outgoing of the two, but Noah somehow managed to pull the most girls, which was a point of much contention between them.

“I’m honoured,” he grinned, before pausing for a moment. From their brief chat the previous evening, Elinor had seemed to know his flatmate, in fact, not only know him, but dislike him, and he was contemplating whether to ask about it. Gary must have seen the look on his face, because he quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Whatcha thinking about?” he questioned, and Bobby shrugged a little, turning back to him.

“Just about work…” he trailed off, “Actually, do you know someone called Elinor Wilson?”

Both of Gary’s eyebrows raised at that question, “Aye, I do actually. Why?”

“She’s my boss’ sister,” he played with a dish towel as he spoke, “And I’m not really sure what to make of her, to be honest. How do you know her?”

Gary sighed, resting his elbows on the counter, and Bobby could tell he was in for a good story, or at the very least, some gossip.

“Okay, so you know the flat opposite?”

“Aye, I’ve seen them once or twice, taking out the bins and all…” Bobby looked at him in confusion, “Why?”

“Well, I’ve kinda been sleeping with the goth girl, Lottie, for a few months now,” the blond admitted sheepishly.

“Oh really?” That explained some of the noises coming from his room, anyway. He knew Gary hadn’t pulled any of the times they’d been at the pub together, so his companion being the girl from across the hall made a lot of sense.

“Yeah, and she just so happens to be one of Elinor’s best friends. I’ve met her a few times, when Lottie introduced me to her friendship group,” he replied, before a chuckle escaped his lips, “And I get the sense that she doesn’t really like me that much. Just a hunch.”

“So did I, from the way she looked at me when I mentioned our address. She asked if I lived with you, and she didn’t sound happy about it.”

“Yikes.”

“Right? I don’t know why she wouldn’t like you though.” Bobby could understand not liking him, considering how annoying he could be, but Gary? He was just a nice, normal, totally inoffensive bloke. What about him could have irritated Elinor so much?

“Me neither,” he grinned, “I like to think I’ve been a good sort-of boyfriend, but she probably won’t come around until I actually make it official with Loz. I think she’s worried that I’m playing with her feelings, since we’re such polar opposites.”

He paused, as though he was wondering whether to say anything more.

“And… I did date her flatmate for a little while, so there’s that as well.”

“You’re making your way around the friendship group then,” Bobby chuckled, and Gary rolled his eyes playfully.

“Nah. Just Chelsea and Lottie. The other girls aren’t really my type.”

“Are you planning on making it official with Lottie then?”

“Maybe,” a smile played on his lips. Bobby shot him a wink, which earned a laugh from the blond.

“We’ll just have to see how that goes,” Gary looked away, clearly trying to stop Bobby from seeing the blush that had coloured his cheeks. Bobby wisely decided to change the subject a little since he knew that the man wasn’t really one for expressing his feelings, which was fair enough, neither was Bobby. Not that he had feelings for anybody in the first place; his last girlfriend had been well over a year ago, and since then he’d been happily single and ready to mingle.

“So, what’s Elinor actually like then? Because I only talked to her a couple times, but I get the sense that she’s a bit…”

“Uptight? For sure. She’s the definition of Type A. Kinda aloof. Proper classy lady though, and from what I hear she’s pretty nice when you’re on her good side. Plus, Lottie seems to like her, so she’s either really loyal or really fun, or both. You said you met her for a job, right?”

Bobby nodded.

“So that’s probably why she was a little more stand-offish with you.”

“I mean, it does look like she takes her work very seriously. She was even sorting out work stuff just before we left yesterday, and it was like 11pm.”

“Yeah, she really doesn’t like to fail at anything. You should have seen the look she gave me when I trounced her at air hockey,” Gary chuckled, “I’m sure she won’t kick you off of that ball thing you mentioned last night, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“How’d you know I was worried?” Bobby frowned. He couldn’t deny that he hadn’t been up last night concerned about that very thing happening. Even though she’d seemed mostly fine with him outside of the meeting (bar the mention of Gary), the look on her face when he’d suggested the Bobbywich had been as though he’d just suggested a whole spit roasted rat as dessert. She could take him off the project just as easily as he’d been put on it, and he didn’t want to miss the chance to really prove himself to Jake.

“I’ve got great intuition, mate,” the blond tapped the side of his head, “Look, I know Elinor. Just as long as you don’t fuck up too bad, she won’t fire you. She’s not a monster.”

“Well I know that,” Bobby mumbled, just as his phone began to ring. A small smirk appeared on Gary’s face.

“Girlfriend calling from Scotland, eh?” he teased, and Bobby groaned.

“I told you, there’s no secret Scottish girlfriend!” he laughed, “It’s Miles. I’d better take this.”

“Okay, okay,” Gary chuckled, getting up, “But you’d better not let my cheesecake burn while you do.”

“I won’t, scout’s honour.”

“Good.”

With that, Gary disappeared back into his bedroom, and Bobby answered the call.

“Alright mate?”

“Aye, yourself?” the redhead replied, and Bobby smiled to himself.

“I’m alright. I’ve got a lot to tell you about, actually…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ❤️ Next chapter will be up asap! ❤️
> 
> Please leave a kudos or a comment if you want, I love reading everyone's thoughts! ❤️


	3. Drunk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiyaaa everyone! Thank you so much for all your kudos and comments ❤️ You've all been so lovely (about both my fanfics) and it's really inspired me to keep writing, and considering I've been having writer's block for years that's no small feat! I've never written so much in my life and I feel so motivated! I definitely need to work on not uploading so late at night though 😂
> 
> I'll definitely say more in the next upload for Say When but I'm so excited that it was nominated for and actually ended up winning the Fanfiction Feature on the subreddit! It means the world to me ❤️
> 
> I've got so many ideas for this story and I'm super excited for where I've planned it to go, so hopefully you're enjoying it 👀 On with the chapter!

Bobby’s head was spinning.

The date of the charity ball was growing ever closer, and with it grew his anxiety. Elinor had popped into his work a couple of times to discuss certain aspects of the menu with him and Jake, and every time he’d felt a massive pressure to not fuck anything up in her presence. He wasn’t sure what it was about that woman, but she had the most piercing stare he’d ever seen, and it warned him that if he dared to even make one misstep, he’d be off the project and out on his arse.

Or, at least, that was what he assumed. He could just have been exaggerating how terrifying she actually was in his mind… but nevertheless, the worry was still there, as much as Gary tried to convince him.

Even though his roommates knew very little about the culinary sphere, or about charity fundraising full stop, they’d both offered up their suggestions to get Bobby’s mind off of it. Naturally, he’d immediately blown off Noah’s suggestion to read a book; the last one he could remember reading was Of Mice and Men in GCSE English, and he was fairly certain that had he not needed to read recipes, he’d have happily regressed into illiteracy by that point. Gary’s idea was more practical – get drunk. Now that was something Bobby could get on board with.

Naturally, he was a typical Scot, and so he could certainly handle his alcohol. Gary on the other hand… well, he’d insisted upon not being a lightweight, and then had promptly become tipsy after just one pint. Still, he’d challenged Bobby to a drinking competition, and as if Bobby was going to lose at something like that. He hadn’t fared well afterwards though, and it was left to Noah to babysit the two men on their way home from the pub, a task which their other mates Ibrahim and Henrik had happily shirked.

“I tell ya,” Gary slurred as the two drunks stumbled down the hall, arms slung around each other and Noah following a few steps behind, “I woulda won, I just let you win, you know, cause you’re the new guy and all.”

“Bullshit,” Bobby replied, his already-thick accent even more unintelligible from the copious amounts of alcohol that was running through his system, “A drunk you under the table, yer just a sore loser.”

Gary stopped and stared at him for a moment, before shaking his head.

“Mate, I have no idea what you’re saying.”

The two of them descended into laughter, and Noah rolled his eyes so hard that it was a wonder they stayed in his head. He was just thankful that they were nearly back home…

And then the door to the flat opposite theirs opened, and out stepped Elinor and a blonde goth girl, the two of them in deep conversation.

“Lozza!” Gary called as soon as he spotted them, waving rapidly, “Bobster, that’s my Lozza!”

Both the girls stopped to look at the men, and a loud groan erupted from Lottie’s lips.

“Gary, you have got to be kidding me.”

“I wish,” Noah mumbled. A goofy smile came to Bobby’s face as his eyes fell upon Elinor.

“Hi Elinor! Hiii!”

It was the brunette’s turn to roll her eyes, “Oh my god Gary, what have you done?”

“Nooooooothing,” the blond man removed his arm from around Bobby, causing him to slump a little, and threw it around Lottie, “Gimme a kiss Loz.”

Her nose wrinkled in disgust, and she shoved him off her, “Give yourself a kiss. I’m not dealing with you like this.”

Gary pouted, “But…”

“No buts. You’ll get a kiss when you’re sober and acting like a normal human being,” she crossed her arms over her chest, and it was clear even through the mens’ drunken haze that she was not one to be messed with.

“Well… okay, Elinor, give Bobby a kiss!” he made kissy faces at the two of them. Bobby flushed even pinker than the alcohol had already made him. He had no idea where Gary had gotten the idea that he would ever want to kiss her from, but he supposed Gary’s type (without having met Chelsea to confirm) was women who scared the shit out of him, and so he must have assumed Bobby’s would be the same.

“Absolutely not,” Elinor answered quickly, “Don’t even think about it Bobby.”

“Wasn’t,” Bobby mumbled, kicking Gary in the shins, causing him to let out a yelp, “A don’t like ye like that. Yer ma boss and Gary’s a fucking bampot.”

Gary just gave him another quizzical look.

“Mate, are you speaking another language or something?”

“Ohhhh my god,” the goth exclaimed, grabbing her friend’s hand, “Noah, for the love of god, please get these two away from Elinor and I.”

Noah was already in the process of unlocking the door.

“Believe me, I want them away from me too,” he muttered.

“Tough shit, they’re your problem now,” Lottie grabbed Gary by the front of his t-shirt with her free hand, “Gareth, dear, you’re going to go to bed now, and we can have a chat about your behaviour in the morning, okay?”

Her voice was ostensibly sweet, but with a menacing edge to it that made both men wince. The blond nodded numbly, scared into submission by his pissed off almost-girlfriend. Lottie smirked, pushing him through the now-open door, and Bobby followed slowly behind, his feet trailing on the carpet.

“Night boys!” the goth called from behind them, and a small snort of laughter could be heard from Elinor as the door slowly clicked shut.

* * *

Bobby had never felt so shitty in his whole life.

Not only did he have the hangover to end all hangovers, but that was almost erased by the sheer embarrassment he felt over how he and Gary had behaved around the girls the other night. It was bad enough that this had been his first meeting with Lottie, but his boss’ sister had been there too to witness his humiliation. He could only pray that she hadn’t told Jake, especially about Gary’s strange kissing remark. Was she going to think he had some sort of a crush on her? The more he thought about it, the more humiliated he felt.

Eventually, he emerged from his bedroom, still wearing his clothes from the night before. At least Noah had been courteous enough to take his shoes off for him.

“Fuck, Gary, mate, you up?” he groaned as he shuffled into the living room, rubbing his head.

“Ah, Bobby. I was wondering when you’d decide to awaken.”

Bobby stopped short in his tracks. Sat on the sofa, dressed in all black and with a look in her eyes akin to a predator eyeing up its prey, was Lottie.

“Oh, uh, Lottie! Is Gary here?” he stammered, taking a slow step away from the couch, “I didn’t realise you’d be here…”

“He’s still asleep. Noah let me in, since I promised a chat, but I also wanted to catch you too,” a smirk slowly came to her deep-red lips, and Bobby gulped.

“Oh.”

“Nothing to worry about! Come sit,” she patted the space next to her, “I promise I don’t bite… unless provoked.”

“And have I provoked you?” he shuffled his feet a little closer, but he wasn’t going anywhere near the sofa until he knew it was totally safe. This was only his second time meeting Lottie, after all, and the first hadn’t exactly been under the best circumstances.

“Not at all,” she rolled her eyes, and he sat down carefully on the arm of the sofa. It seemed as though she realised that was probably as good as she was going to get, and so she shrugged before speaking again.

“So, you’re the infamous Bobby McKenzie then. I’m Lottie.”

“Infamous?”

“Well. Let’s just say I’ve heard a little about you from Elinor,” Lottie looked at her nails, which were painted a glossy obsidian.

“Oh.”

“And obviously I met you last night.”

“I am _so sorry_ about that –“ he started to babble an apology, but she held her hand up to stop him.

“Look, chill out, Gary was worse than you in my eyes, and believe me, he is going to get a talking to.” Just the thought of her sort-of-boyfriend had Lottie’s eyes rolling.

“Right…”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about what El said to me. I think I can help you with… whatever’s going on there.”

Her words both confused and terrified him. First of all, why would she want to help him, when this was their first proper conversation? And secondly, what had Elinor said about him that was so bad that Lottie had decided to step in to fix it?

“Right, okay.” Bobby was uncharacteristically nervous as he waited for her to elaborate. Normally he was so confident about most things – his cooking, his work ethic, his friendships – but something about the pressure this charity ball had induced, as well as the natural pressures of a new job in a new location, had certainly lowered his faith in his abilities. It was almost ridiculous, really, but he felt an all-consuming need to prove himself. After all, this job could lead to greater things, and if he fucked up at this one event, it could set his career back by god knows how much.

“Don’t freak out. It’s really not as bad as you think; she just told me that she thinks you’re quite immature and is a little worried about how well you’re going to perform at the charity thing. Apparently every time she comes anywhere near you at work you freak out and it’s super obvious, and obviously last night didn’t exactly help things.”

Well shit. Even though Lottie had insisted that it wasn’t a bad thing, to Bobby it felt like the end of the world. He’d only been there just over a month, and already his abilities had been brought into question, not to mention the fact that she’d noticed his obvious nervousness whenever she was around. _She is_ definitely _going to think I have a crush on her now…_

“I mean, that seems pretty bad,” he tried to force out a half-smile, but it was obvious that he felt a little crushed by her words. Lottie sighed.

“If it makes you feel any better, you can definitely make it up to her. She’s a lot more forgiving than I am. When we first met, she hated me, and I mean absolutely _hated._ Look at us now!”

“You’re best friends?”

“Right!” Lottie gave him a smile that was clearly meant to be reassuring, “You can turn this around. Elinor’s a nicer person than I am, it’s just that this is her job and she’s been burned by caterers before.”

“I thought she always sourced them from Jake?”

“Oh she has. Didn’t work out for her very well last year though, and she nearly lost her job over it. That’s why she wants everything to run smoothly this time around, and that’s why she’s so nervous about you. As someone who takes everything personally…” she pursed her lips, “I wouldn’t take it personally. Chalk it up to work-related stress. Once she tastes your food, she’ll be fine.”

“You think?” his eyes lit up a little.

“Jake wouldn’t put you in charge if he didn’t trust you. He’s still making it up to El for the shitbag he hired last year. Dirty bastard served raw chicken and tried to graft on both Elinor and his sous chef, not to mention everything was late.”

“And that guy worked at _Wilson’s_?!”

“Not after that saga,” Lottie snorted, “But I think Jake knows you’re not like that. You’d better not be, anyway.”

The look in her eyes told him that she definitely wasn’t joking.

“I’m not. I promise. I really just want this to go well, probably as much as she does…” he trailed off. Even though Elinor’s opinion of him stung, Lottie was right. He hadn’t come across in the best way, with his strange meal suggestions, his nerves whenever she was around, and his drunken antics. Considering what had happened the previous year, it was no wonder she was worried.

“Good,” Lottie seemed satisfied with his answer, “Look, you really want to get on her good side? I’ll tell her you’ve volunteered to help clean up after the event. That’ll make sure you’re in her good books.”

Even though he really couldn’t think of much worse than helping to clean up after a party, Bobby decided to keep his mouth shut and just nod along. If Lottie, one of Elinor’s best friends, thought it would help, then he was going to do it. He needed to keep on both hers and Jake’s good sides if he ever wanted to keep his job, and even though Jake seemed to have no problem with him, it was still wise to be cautious.

“Thanks,” he replied, before frowning a little, “Why did you tell me all of this though? You don’t even know me”

“Because,” she rolled her eyes, as if she was giving the most obvious answer in the world, “If you look good then Gary looks good by extension, since he’s your roommate. She’s just as worried about the possibility of him hurting me as she is about you.”

“Because of her roommate?”

“Right. El thinks I’m a hypocrite for dating Gary since I’m so strict on sticking to the Girl Code.”

Bobby raised an eyebrow, “You are?”

“It’s _important_!” she insisted, before sighing quietly, “I made sure to get Chelsea’s permission before anything happened between me and Gary, otherwise I wouldn’t have even made a move. Still resulted in an argument though.”

She rolled her eyes and shrugged, “But, whatever. I know I’m not in the wrong.”

“Uh huh,” Bobby decided not to give his opinion on the matter, instead changing the subject back to the real reason behind their chat, “So you really think my food will speak for itself?”

“I think if Jake trusts you then I trust you,” The smirk returned to her face, “And if you fuck this up for El and she loses her job… I think you and me are going to have another _talk_.”

The implication of what that talk could contain hung in the air, and Bobby nodded quickly.

“Noted!”

“Good,” her smirk turned into a smile that certainly seemed genuine enough, “Right, I’m going to check on Gary.”

“I’ll be praying for him,” Bobby joked, and Lottie chuckled as she got up from the sofa.

“Believe me, he’ll need it,” she smirked, “Oh, one more thing. Do you have a crush on Elinor?”

How did he know that would come up somehow? At least she was hopefully going to let him set the record straight.

“No way!” he insisted, “I really don’t know where Gary got that from. I’ve barely even mentioned her around him.”

“Thought not. I can sense these things, and romance hadn’t been in El’s tea leaves recently…” she frowned a little, “I’ll have to read yours sometime.”

He couldn’t deny that that sounded pretty interesting, and a smile crept onto his lips, “Deal.”

She cocked her head ever so slightly, “You’re one of the few people who actually seem enthusiastic about it. I think I like you, Bobby McKenzie.”

“Well, good,” he smiled, “Because I think you’re pretty cool too, Lottie.”

Lottie smiled back curiously, “Good. Don’t make me regret it.”

With a flourish, she disappeared into Gary’s room, leaving Bobby alone with his thoughts, and of course, his splitting headache.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ❤️ Who doesn't love a bit of drunk Bobby? 😂 Thank you so much for reading and again thank you for all the support ❤️
> 
> Please leave a kudos or a comment if you want, I make sure to reply to everyone and I just really love hearing your feedback! ❤️


	4. Success

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So sorry this chapter is a little late, I had an unexpectedly busy past few days where I wasn't able to write, but I hope you enjoy this chapter and the story! ❤️

A few weeks had flown by since Bobby’s chat with Lottie, and before he knew it the day of the charity ball had come. If he was being honest with himself, he was both excited and nervous, but mostly relieved that he just had to get over this hurdle before he could relax a little. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like Elinor had bothered to let Jake know about his drunken antics, nor had he received any comments about a possible crush, which was a massive relief. He just wanted to show up, do his job, and then get back to enjoying the thing he loved the most: cooking.

The day before the event, Elinor had come into work again to finalise a few things, and there was a stressed atmosphere hanging in the air, so thick Bobby could probably cut it with a knife. Not just from Elinor, who he’d expected it from, but from Jake as well, which was new. He’d never seen the man be so worried about something before; granted, he hadn’t worked for him for very long, so he hadn’t seen all his moods, but it was still strange to him. Then again, after what Lottie had told him about what had happened the previous year, it had become clearer to Bobby that his boss still felt guilty about putting her job at risk, and seemed to want to make it up to her. He just hoped that he would be good enough to do so.

After a couple of hours of tension, Elinor eventually emerged from Jake’s office and entered the kitchen. Bobby looked up, his body tensing slightly, before he remembered to relax. He didn’t want to be an added burden upon her shoulders.

“Bobby,” she had a pleasant smile on her face as she strolled over to him, one which he returned. Even despite that, it was clear from the bags under her eyes that she was having a tough time of it, “Just quickly checking that you know what time you need to show up tomorrow?”

“Don’t worry, it’s in my diary,” he nodded, and she seemed satisfied with that answer.

“Good. Also, Lottie told me you offered to help stay behind and clear up?”

“That’s right.”

“Thank you.”

The obvious sincerity of her words surprised Bobby, and he fought back a cheesy grin.

“No worries. I know there’s probably a lot to do, so…” he trailed off.

“Unfortunately,” she sighed, looking away for a moment before her eyes returned to him, “But, seriously, I appreciate it.”

Jake appeared in the doorway, and she looked over, sending him a strained smile, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow…”

Before he could even finish his sentence, she was gone.

* * *

For once in his life, Bobby had made it to the event early. In fact, he was so early that only a few staff members were there setting up, none of them being the kitchen staff, and Elinor was nowhere in sight. In his freshly washed and ironed chef’s whites – he’d had to borrow an iron from Lottie, who had begrudgingly given it to him – he felt a little out of place amongst everyone, who were all in formalwear. Still, at least he wasn’t going to be seen pretty much the whole evening, so it didn’t really matter that he was going to end up a sweaty, greasy mess as he often did at the end of a long working night.

“Bobby!” a voice came from behind him as he surveyed the room, and he swung round to be greeted by Valerie and a petite blonde girl, “You made it!”

“Just about,” he chuckled, and she grinned in response.

“Bobby, this is Jen,” she gestured to the woman next to her, “She’s part of our social media team, and she’ll be sorting all of the shots from inside the kitchen.”

“Ah,” he fought the frown off of his face at the fact that he would still be filmed. At least he’d made an effort with his presentation, anyway, “Great to meet you Jen!”

He held out his hand, and she shook it enthusiastically.

“Great to meet you too! I’m so excited to follow you around all day,” she grinned, “I promise I won’t be too invasive.”

“No worries, you need to get that publicity for the restaurant,” he couldn’t help but to smile at her. Her enthusiasm was pretty infectious.

“I’m going to get some _amazing_ shots of you and the other chefs in action!”

“Speaking of which,” Valerie added, “Looks like you’re the first here. Have you started setting up yet?”

“Not just yet, I only got here a minute before you guys.”

“Better get on it then,” she winked, “Have you seen Elinor?”

“No, I – “

“I heard my name,” the brunette called as she strolled out of a side room. As his eyes landed upon her, Bobby’s breath caught in his throat involuntarily. Dressed in a form-fitting forest green dress, with her dark curls swept into an updo, she was, to put it quite frankly, stunning. Sure, she’d been absolutely beautiful before (and with a half brother like Jake, who wouldn’t be?), but this was something else…

He tried to shake those thoughts from his mind as she reached them. He definitely wasn’t going to develop a crush on her, nope. Not when she’d been so cold to him. That would be so typical…

“El!” Valerie smiled, drawing his attention back to her, “Just the person who I was looking for. Is Bobby able to start setting up in the kitchen yet? We want to basically start shooting as soon as possible.”

Elinor’s dark eyes met his, and his heart leapt a little as she brushed a loose curl out of her eyes.

“I would say so. We want to make sure everything’s timely and working smoothly around here.”

She had a smile on her face, but it was obvious to anyone that it was strained, an attempt at masking the sheer stress she must have been feeling. Still, Bobby smiled back, and her smile grew a little.

“No worries boss,” he made finger guns in her direction, and her eyebrows shot up, making him regret it almost immediately.

“You remember where the kitchen is?” she chose not to comment upon it, and he nodded. Jake had taken him to see the venue a few days prior, so he was entirely familiar with everything.

“Good,” she replied, “I’d help you set up, but I’ve got to make sure our DJ plays the right playlist. He was messaging me about possibly playing one he’s called ‘Absolute Tunes’, and I’m already nervous.”

She rolled her eyes, and both Valerie and Jen laughed.

“Typical Tim.”

“Remind me again why I decided to go for him?” the brunette fake-pondered, “Honestly, the things I do for Chelsea.”

“Oooh, Tim and Chelsea! Tell me more!” Val gasped, and Bobby took that as his cue to go and set up the kitchen. Luckily, it was pretty much deserted when he made it in there, which gave him time to think. He’d been preparing for this event for weeks, and now it was finally here he was just hoping and praying that he was ready. Gary and Noah had certainly seemed to like all his trial runs (and Lottie certainly hadn’t complained when she’d managed to grab a bite when visiting Gary), but they were his (sort-of) friends. They had to be nice to him, but Elinor didn’t, and he could tell she wouldn’t be if he made any mistakes.

More than that though, he really wanted to do well for Jake. It was obvious just how worried he was, and even though Bobby had proved himself to be nothing but trustworthy in the kitchen up until then, he strongly suspected it was the same case with the guy from the previous year. He needed to let him know that he wasn’t going to fuck this up, not for him or for Elinor. All three of their jobs depended on it, really.

“Alright!” Jen called as she followed him in, most definitely putting an end to any ideas he had of peace and quiet, “I can put myself to work if you need me to, since I probably won’t start shooting until you actually get cooking.”

“I’ll probably start food prep when more people get here, so for now let’s raid the cupboards and see what we can find!”

* * *

A few gruelling hours later, and service was winding down. He hadn’t seen Elinor or Valerie at all since their chat that morning, but he wasn’t too bothered, considering just how busy he’d been since then. It was, without a doubt, the biggest challenge of his career, and as the final dessert went out, he felt a sense of both pride and relief that he’d managed to see it through.

“Is that the last one?” Jen asked, her fingers tapping away at her phone.

“Sure was,” Bobby grinned, “We’re all done!”

“Woo!” she held up her hand for a high five, and Bobby slapped it with a ‘whoop’, “I can’t believe that’s done! It feels like we’ve been in here forever, and I’m so sure my makeup must be gone from all the heat. Who knew a kitchen could be so hot?”

Bobby chuckled, wiping at his forehead with his sleeve. He’d certainly been sweating an absolutely disgusting amount, but for him it was all worth it. Now he just had to wait for feedback from the guests about how it went, and judging by the fact that no plates had been returned, he was pretty certain he (and his team) had passed with flying colours.

“Who knew?” he echoed with a grin, “Well, that means we get to do the most fun part.”

“Which is?”

“Clean up!” he mock-cheered, and Jen groaned.

“Oh right,” she sighed, her bottom lip sticking out ever so slightly in a pout, “I’ve got to clear the hall out as well once this thing’s over. Val’s making me.”

“I’ve been volunteered too, don’t worry,” he smiled, “It’ll be fun! We can get the DJ to play some tunes before he packs up.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Okay, now I _know_ you don’t know Tim, because there’s no way you’d be saying that if you did.”

“Oh really?”

“Really. He’s definitely going to rap for us, and don’t get excited about that because he’s…” she waved her hands around, as if she was trying to pluck the right word from thin air, “Well, he’s rhythmical at least, but those rhymes are quite something.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any worse, I’m _definitely_ joining in any rap battles!”

“Oh god, not you too!” she groaned loudly, and Bobby laughed, “I can’t ever escape!”

“Sorry not sorry Jen,” he smirked, “I don’t ever back down from a musical challenge!”

* * *

Another hour passed, and the event was pretty much over, with just a few stragglers staying to chat to Elinor and her co-workers. Jen had gone with Valerie to sort through all things social media, and Bobby had finished cleaning the kitchen, which meant he was now sat down on a chair in the corner of the kitchen on his phone, waiting for the signal to come that he was needed in the main hall. None of the other chefs had volunteered to stay (and who could blame them after the long day they’d had), and Bobby was quickly starting to regret his decision too as his eyes began to droop from tiredness.

“Bobby?”

Elinor’s voice made him sit up straight, shoving his phone in his pocket with lightning speed. Her head peeked round the door, still looking as perfect as she had when she’d shown up. He, on the other hand, knew he looked like a hot mess, and it was honestly a little embarrassing.

“Here!” he waved her over, and she smiled when she saw him.

“Compliments to the chef,” she pushed a strand of hair out of her face, and he raised his eyebrows.

“Huh?”

“Everyone I’ve talked to has raved about your food, especially the desserts. They’re going absolutely crazy for it. So, well done. I’m really impressed.”

Once again, she seemed sincere in her words, which came out almost shyly.

“Oh, uh, wow, thanks.”

He couldn’t help the smile that came to his face at the realization he’d succeeded in his goal. Not only that, but the relief that rushed through his veins at knowing he wasn’t going to get fired was certainly welcome.

“I’m serious. If I’m honest… I didn’t have high hopes. I mean, I’m a pessimist anyway, but you always seemed so… skittish whenever I came to visit. I was worried you would be running around like a headless chicken and your sous chefs would have to pick up the slack, but I was wrong, and I’m sorry about that.”

“Yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Nothing she was saying came as a surprise to him, considering what Lottie had told him, but it still felt a little weird that she was confessing it to him regardless.

“I’m sorry, I know that sounds mean,” a small laugh escaped her lips, “I suppose I owe you the truth though. But you’ve really impressed me, and I know that Jake will be happy. I’ll be sure to put in a very good word for you with him.”

That was exactly what he needed to hear, and it had his face breaking out into a bright grin.

“I really appreciate that,” he replied honestly, and her smile almost reached her eyes, “Did everything else go well?”

“Our best year yet, in part thanks to your cooking. I think my job is safe for now.”

“Good.”

Elinor nodded, “Are you still okay with helping clean up? I know it’s been a long day for all of us, but I really do appreciate the hand.”

“Of course!” Bobby got up, making a little show of dusting himself down, “I am your obedient servant, boss.”

“Hmm, _bit_ too much,” she said with a laugh, “But I appreciate it, again. If you’re done in here, then come along and I’m sure I can find something for you to do.”

She turned on her heel, strutting out the room. He watched her go for a moment before following, his head a little all over the place. Bobby couldn’t quite believe it had gone so well, and of course that in itself had him elated, but it was also the fact that Elinor had admitted to and apologised for misjudging him that had him so happy. It seemed that, in general, she was hot one minute and cold the next, but he decided could deal with that, especially since she now seemed to be warming up to him. If she had any more events in the future… he could only hope that he’d earned enough trust from both her and Jake to be given the job.

Until then, though, he would just have to keep working hard in order to achieve his dream, and if that meant helping clear out the venue despite wishing he was tucked up in bed, he would do it with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! ❤️ I have so many ideas for the direction of this story and I'm super excited to write future chapters, especially considering how Bobby and Elinor's dynamic has started shifting a little 👀 
> 
> Please do leave any comments/kudos if you want, they mean the world! ❤️


	5. Clean-Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you all for all of your lovely comments and kudos so far, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! 💗

“Chef boy!” a voice called as Bobby entered the room, and his brow furrowed, searching for the source. It came from the DJ, who was stood with his equipment, waving at him frantically.

“Fancy helping me clean this up?” the man grinned when he noticed Bobby looking his way.

“Well, there’s your job sorted,” Elinor half-laughed from beside him, before turning her attention elsewhere. Bobby shrugged and went over to the DJ.

“Bobby,” he stuck his hand out for the man to shake, but instead the DJ initiated a fist bump, “Also known as chef boy.”

“Tim,” he chuckled, “Also known as Big T. I tried your food; it was pretty good.”

“Aye?”

“Especially the cheesecake. I almost stole some of Val’s, too bad she noticed me.”

Bobby laughed, “That girl never misses anything.”

“You got that right. We’ve been friends since primary school, and she’s never let me get away with anything. I keep her around though, cause she’s part of my rap crew.”

“Rap crew?” Bobby raised his eyebrows, “Valerie? Really?”

“You wouldn’t think so, but yeah,” Tim grinned, starting to disassemble his equipment. Bobby gave him a hand, not entirely sure of what he was doing but willing to follow through with it until Tim told him otherwise, “She’s got some pretty sick rhymes. Not as good as mine.”

“So I hear from Jen.”

Tim’s face flushed a little at the mention of the blonde, “Oh yeah, you two are friends too?”

“Not really, we only met today, but she seems nice.”

“She is,” the DJ looked wistfully into the distance for a moment, before snapping out of it. That was something Bobby definitely didn’t miss.

“Are you two…?” He could have sworn he heard something about Tim and another girl earlier, but maybe he was misremembering.

“Nah, not anymore. We’ve known each other for years, but it never went beyond kissing when we were drunk,” he shrugged, packing his headphones away, “She’s too posh for me.”

“In your opinion or hers?”

“Hers at first, now mine. I’m seeing someone else,” he grinned at the thought, “Her name’s Chelsea. It’s early days, but.” He shrugged a little.

“Elinor’s flatmate?” Bobby seemed to remember Gary mentioning her before. Wasn’t she his ex? Clearly that whole group was rather… insular with its dating habits.

“Yeah, you know her?”

“Not really. Gary’s my flatmate though, so I’ve heard of her.”

“Ah,” Tim frowned, “He hasn’t said anything about me to you, has he?”

“Not a peep. I think he’s more interested than Lottie than anything else.”

Tim breathed a visible sigh of relief, “Cool, cool. Don’t want him to be hating on me or anything.”

“Honestly, mate, I haven’t even heard of you before today.”

Now he just looked mildly offended, “You mean nobody’s told you about Big T?”

“Nope,” Bobby shrugged, and Tim took the opportunity to burst out into a rather lively rap. And, to be fair, he was pretty good in Bobby’s eyes, at least.

“Amazing mate,” Bobby grinned when he was finally finished (after at least two verses), and Tim held up his hand for a high five, which the Scot gladly returned.

“And _that’s_ why I got hired for this evening,” Tim smiled smugly, “Although Elinor told me I wasn’t allowed to rap…”

“Sounds like her,” Bobby’s amber eyes automatically flitted towards the aforementioned brunette. She was chatting to another woman with glasses and long, ombre hair, and from the look on her face, she didn’t look too impressed. Business as usual, he supposed.

Tim’s eyes followed Bobby’s gaze, and a smirk came to his face, “You like Elinor?”

“What? No!” Okay, that definitely sounded a little too guilty, but it was the truth. He certainly didn’t dislike her; she was more confusing than anything. One minute she was singing his praises, the next it was like she didn’t even want to know him. And, even though she was admittedly very attractive, Bobby wasn’t sure that was something he wanted to keep up with. He preferred someone who was all in, rather than someone he was on eggshells around.

Plus, she was his boss’s sister. That certainly made it easier for him not to fall for her.

“Doesn’t sound like it mate.”

“Seriously,” Bobby sighed, looking back over at Tim, “I don’t even think she likes me very much. I mean, she pretty much admitted that she didn’t have much faith in me…”

“Ah, she’s always like that when you’re working for her. She demands perfection and all that jazz,” he waved his arms around, as if demonstrating, “I’m sure she likes you really.”

“Is she like that with you?”

“When I’m working for her, yeah. Otherwise, we’re pretty cool as long as I keep Chelsea happy, and I do,” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, before leaning in a little closer, his voice growing to a whisper, “Word of advice though mate, if you are crushing on her, don’t. It won’t happen.”

“Why?” Even though he didn’t have feelings for her beyond physical attraction, he was still curious to hear Tim’s answer.

“Because you’re not her type. _We’re_ not her type.”

“We?”

“Normal guys. Guys with an actual personality,” he rolled his eyes, “Her type is boring, or what she calls ‘dependable’.”

Tim nodded his head towards where she was stood, still talking to the other woman, “Like Marisol.”

“Marisol?”

“That girl she’s talking to. She’s been crushing for _months_ , it’s painfully obvious.”

Bobby looked over again. Elinor still looked just as frustrated the last time he’d looked over, which didn’t exactly scream ‘crushing’, but he supposed that Tim knew her better than he did.

“Is she ‘dependable’?”

“She’s a law student, so she’ll be making the big bucks. She’s also painfully boring, like her ex boyfriend,” Tim rolled his eyes again, “Definitely her type. Her ex was much less annoying though.”

“Annoying?”

“Oh yeah. She’s a law student but she acts like she’s some sort of psychologist. Always analysing your behaviour, I’m pretty sure she thinks I was raised in a cave.”

Bobby let out a chuckle, “Wow.”

“And if _I_ think she’s annoying, you know it’s bad,” Tim laughed, “But seriously, don’t even bother fancying her. She wouldn’t go for you, no offence.”

“None taken.” In fact, that knowledge made things a lot easier. He could keep his distance now, and not misinterpret any of her actions towards him as romantic, as he often did by accident.

“Aaaanyway, looks like we’re all packed up, so I’m gonna head out before El gets me to do anything else,” Tim added, “But it was good talking to you mate.”

“Aye, you too.” It actually was, even with the strange rap interlude. They were clearly very similar people, and Bobby had taken a liking to Tim.

The two said their goodbyes, and Bobby decided to head over to Elinor. He had been planning to just awkwardly hover until her conversation was finished, but just as he did so, Marisol turned abruptly on her heel and stormed away, pushing past Bobby to do so. He frowned, before looking over at Elinor, who looked pretty upset.

“I’m, uh, all done with Tim’s stuff. Don’t know where he’s gone though,” he tried to keep his voice as level as possible, both to ease Elinor’s frustration and to hide the fact that he knew Tim had left.

The brunette looked over at him and sighed.

“That’s fine. Thanks for doing that,” she plastered an obviously fake smile on her face.

“Anything else I can do to help?”

“There’s still plenty of decorations to take down,” she gestured for him to follow her as she strutted towards a corner of the room, “I’ll hold the ladder and you can chuck them down at me.”

“Hey, why am I the one risking life and limb?”

“Because I’m in heels, and I am _not_ getting my feet out.”

He just raised his eyebrows in response, putting one foot on the bottom rung of the ladder.

“Okay, but if I die…”

“You won’t.”

“…I’ll come haunt you.”

“Then I’ll definitely make sure you don’t die,” she sighed, grabbing onto the ladder as Bobby ascended to the top.

“I’d be a great ghost!” he winked at her, unsure of where this confidence had come from. He supposed it was because she was no longer in charge of him, and he’d impressed her enough that he almost felt invincible.

Almost.

Besides, everyone he’d spoken to about her said she was alright when you got to know her, and he was determined to get to know her. With her connection to Lottie, it seemed like as long as Lottie and Gary were a thing, she would be a presence in his life. If he could make nice with her, it would be a lot easier on the both of them.

“I have no doubt about that,” she replied, and he could tell she was trying to suppress a smile, “But I don’t fancy having an annoying ghostly Scot following me around everywhere, for some reason.”

“Aw, come on, it’d be fun! They could make a TV show out of it!” he stretched his hands out, as if illustrating a title banner, “Elinor and the Phantom.”

“Think Julie and the Phantoms would have something to say about that,” she rolled her eyes playfully, “Anyway, I won’t let you die, so you can stop coming up with TV show titles.”

“Instead of the Flying Dutchman, what about the Flying Scotsman?”

“Oh my god,” she covered her mouth with one hand to hide her laugh, but her dimples gave her away, and Bobby grinned.

“Knew that one would get ya,” he turned to the decorations, starting to take them down from the wall, “Admit it, I’m hilarious.”

“Hardly,” she scoffed.

“You’ll admit it someday.”

“You assume I’ll talk to you after today.”

He paused for a moment, looking down at her, “Touché.”

Elinor just smiled a little and looked away, “Get back to work.”

“Yes master.”

“Jesus Christ,” she let out a laugh of disbelief, “You really don’t stop, do you?”

“Never,” he winked down at her, “Got to be consistent.”

“Riiiight,” she tried to hide her smile once more, “Careful with that, or I’ll make sure you fall.”

“You’ve changed your tune.”

“Annoyance will do that to you.”

“You find me annoying?”

“I think anyone reasonable would.”

Even despite her tone, Bobby could tell she wasn’t entirely serious. He just shrugged, turning back to the decorations.

“Have it your way.”

“I always do.” He almost missed the wink she sent up to him from his angle, and his body flushed when he realised what she’d done. His reaction didn’t go unnoticed by her either, and a smug smile came to her face. Bobby elected to ignore it, and they worked in silence for a few minutes, with him taking the decorations off the wall before passing them down to her. Eventually, he found the quiet a bit too much, and he looked down at her.

“Do you do many of these sorts of things?”

“Fundraising events? They’re basically my whole job.”

“Do you like it?”

She thought for a moment, before answering, “I love it. I love the cause, I love the people I work with, and I love seeing an event through to the end, knowing it’s been successful in making money for a great charity.”

That was a more honest answer than he’d expected, and it took him aback a little.

“That’s good,” he answered awkwardly. She shrugged.

“I do have a heart, you know.”

“Yeah, I know that.” It was becoming more and more apparent the more they talked, and Bobby was regretting judging her so soon as scary and critical, much like she’d judged him as erratic and unprofessional. Maybe they had more in common than he’d initially thought.

“Good,” Elinor looked up at him, taking a decoration from his hand, “I run a tight ship, and I know that I’m a massive perfectionist, but in this industry you have to be. Believe it or not, the charity sector is absolutely cutthroat.”

“Really?”

“Really. Everybody wants the money, everybody needs the money, and if you’re not bringing it in, you’re out of the picture,” she looked down again, “It’s a wonder I didn’t lose my job after last year.”

“I, uh, heard about what happened. From Lottie.”

“Figures she’d tell you. She wanted you to do well as much as I did.”

“Really?”

“Really. For a lot of reasons, but I think it was out of concern for me. She didn’t want things to go down badly, so it makes sense that she’d pull you aside and suss you out.”

“It was a little scary,” he admitted.

“That’s just Lottie. Scary but loveable. You’ll have to get used to her, if this whole thing works out with her and Gary.”

“I’m sure I will,” he paused, debating whether to ask his next question, “Do you like Gary? I mean, not like that obviously –”

“I know what you mean,” she interrupted, “And you can tell him that yes, I do, but I think he knows that. I just don’t want Lottie to get hurt, the same way I don’t want any of my friends to get hurt.”

“You’re more selfless than you seem, huh?” The words slipped out before he could stop it, and he cringed. She looked a little shocked but regained her composure quickly.

“And you’re more trustworthy than you seem. I guess we both misjudged each other,” she gave him a mysterious smile, and he felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, but there was also relief mingled in there that she didn’t seem so annoyed by him after all.

“Guess so.”

He began climbing down the ladder, having taken down all the decorations. Elinor smiled at him as he reached the bottom.

“Until next time, Bobby McKenzie.”

He responded with a small smile, as she began to turn away from him.

“Until next time, Elinor Wilson.”

She sent him one final smirk, before she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading! Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter and seeing Bobby and Elinor grow a little closer! 💗
> 
> Any comments and kudos are very much appreciated and make my day! 💗


	6. Secrets

Miles was coming down to London for the weekend, and Bobby had arrived at the train station early to pick him up, which was certainly a rarity for him. Even when it came to his job, he was always just on time, enough to make Jake shake his head in annoyance but not pull him up for it, but he hadn’t seen Miles in what felt like forever, and he missed his best friend, even if he was also the most annoying person he knew.

His amber eyes scanned the station for that familiar head of red curls, and when he finally spotted them, a face-splitting grin graced his lips.

“Oi! Miles!” he called, waving frantically. His former roommate looked over immediately, a matching smile on his face as he strolled over.

“Bobby! Good to see ya!”

Bobby had him pulled into a hug within seconds, and even though that wasn’t normally Miles’ thing, considering they had spent months apart with only phone calls, texting, and Facetime allowing them to see and hear each other, he allowed it that one time. They pulled apart after a few moments, still smiling like idiots.

“I’ve missed you mate,” Bobby said quietly, a rare show of affection towards his friend. In truth, even though he did like Gary and Noah as flatmates, he missed his set up with Miles. They’d had some good times together in their tiny, crappy little apartment.

Miles simply laughed in reply, “Don’t be a melt Bobby. Come on, let’s go see that fancy new place of yours, aye?”

Bobby chuckled, “Sounds good to me!”

* * *

After a thorough tour of his new living space, Bobby and Miles had set about sorting out the redhead’s suitcase, when Gary came home from work.

“Bobby?” came the call, and the Scot stuck his head round his bedroom door.

“Aye?”

“You busy?”

Bobby looked over at the pile of clothes that was currently on the floor, with Miles rummaging through them. _Why has he brought so much stuff with him when he’s only here for the weekend?_

“A little, what’s up?”

“Just wanted to know if you’d be up for a night out tonight?”

That piqued Miles’ attention, “Night out?” His head joined Bobby’s in peeking round the door.

“I mean, I’m off work tomorrow…” He’d taken the whole weekend off as soon as Miles had suggested coming down, so feasibly he could handle a hangover the next day.

“Your mate can come too,” Gary suggested, “Ibrahim, Noah, Nicky, even Seb’s agreed. All rests on you mate.””

“Huh,” Bobby shrugged, “Well, Miles clearly wants to go, so I’m in.”

“Yessss!” Miles cheered, and both of the men laughed.

“Yeah yeah, we’ve gotta sort out your mountain of clothes before we can go out,” Bobby said, but there was a smile on his face, “Come on, quicker we’re done, the quicker we can get ready.”

“When did you become so sensible?” Miles pouted, but he moved back over to his suitcase regardless. Bobby just laughed and shrugged, knowing that he’d eat those words later that night.

* * *

A few hours later, and the rest of the guys were round for pre-drinks. Miles and Gary had gotten along like a house on fire, so it hadn’t been difficult to integrate him into the group.

“I swear,” Miles grinned, before taking a sip of his drink, “I should just move down to London too.”

“As if I could handle you,” Bobby chuckled, “It’s been nice getting away.”

“Fuck off.”

“Well, mate, you’re always welcome here,” Gary smiled.

“Don’t tell me you’re the guy who’s made Bobby into a melt!”

“Hey!” Bobby protested good-naturedly. Miles just shrugged, a cheeky grin on his face.

“Am just saying,” he adjusted his position on the sofa, “Right, so who’s down to pull tonight then?”

“Thought you still had a thing with that Iona lass,” Bobby frowned a little, confused by that statement.

“We’re not exclusive,” Miles dismissed the statement, “She won’t care.”

“Right… Well you’re not doing it in my bed, so don’t get any ideas.” As much as he loved Miles, he wasn’t _that_ generous when it came to his living space.

“Well, obviously I’m not, because of Loz,” Gary fought to keep the misty smile off of his face, but it was obvious to the rest of the guys that he was pretty smitten with the goth, “But the rest of the lads are as free as birds!”

Before any of the boys could defend or rebuke that statement, there was a loud knock at the door. All the guys looked around at each other, confused.

“I thought we were all here?” Nicky looked perplexed, “Anyone else brought a plus one?”

Gary looked sheepish, “So, uh… speaking of Loz…”

“Let me guess, you invited her?” Ibrahim questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, uh, not just her…” the blond slowly rose from his seat, all eyes on him as he went to open the door, “I may have suggested she bring some friends too…”

“You’re unbelievable,” Noah chuckled in disbelief, but Bobby could tell that he wasn’t entirely unhappy about the idea of their night out being invaded by a group of girls. Perhaps he knew Lottie’s friends a little better than Bobby did; he’d only met Elinor after all…

_Crap._ Elinor. Was she going to come along? Was he even allowed to go on a night out with her?

“Look, if I’m going to ask her to be my girlfriend, I want her mates to get along with my mates, alright?” There was another, more purposeful knock at the door, “Do this for me, lads?”

He opened the door before any of them could say no. Lottie was at the front of the group, a bottle of wine in one hand and her purse in the other.

“Hello boys!” she called, “Are you ready for the party to really begin?”

The small group filed in. There was a short blonde, who was jumping from foot to foot as though she had already started drinking; a willowy dark-skinned woman with braids practically down to her waist; a woman with dark red-brown hair, whose low-cut dress left little to the imagination, and, of course, Elinor. Because he couldn’t escape work, even for one night.

“Loz!” Gary kissed her cheek, “Glad you could make it.”

“Would have been nice to know about it,” Bobby heard Seb say under his breath, and he suppressed a snort of laughter. Miles, on the other hand, looked like the cat that got the cream, especially when his eyes landed upon his fellow redhead. If he was in a cartoon, his eyes would have been popping out of his head with the ‘awooga’ noise at precisely that moment.

“I think some introductions are in order,” Gary continued, “You all know Noah, and then there’s Nicky, Ibrahim, Seb, Bobby, and Bobby’s friend Miles.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Miles stood up immediately, going over to shake the girls’ hands. Noah raised an eyebrow at Bobby.

“Is he always like this?” he whispered.

“Miles? Aye. He’ll go after any girl with a pulse, although I thought he was a bit more settled. Guess not.”

“Alright then,” Lottie’s eyebrows, too, were raised at Miles’ eagerness, “Well I’m Lottie, if you didn’t know, and then this is Hope, Chelsea, Priya, and Elinor.”

So, the blonde was the Chelsea he’d heard so much about. Bobby was honestly a little surprised; he’d expected someone a bit more serious considering she was Elinor’s flatmate, but from the way she was already chatting her head off with Miles, it was clear that she had more energy than the Energiser Bunny himself. If Elinor’s best friend was like that, why had she been put off by him?

“Now that we’re all acquainted, how’s about we play a drinking game?” Gary suggested, a broad smile on his face. It was clear how badly he wanted this evening to go well, and Bobby hoped for his sake that it would. Lottie obviously made him happy enough for him to want to bring the two groups of friends together (even if one of said groups included his ex-girlfriend).

“Never have I ever?” Bobby piped up. That was always a crowd-pleaser, and a good way to find out more about others, two things he knew that his flatmate was hoping for. Plus, it was a fantastic way of getting smashed reeeeally quick, depending on how wild they were.

“Ooh! My favourite!” Chelsea squealed, “Good choice, uh…”

“Bobby,” he smiled at the blonde.

“Bobby! Oh, Tim told me about you!” she grinned, “I should’ve invited him out too!”

Bobby definitely didn’t miss the flash of annoyance in Gary’s eyes at that, but he knew that it probably didn’t mean anything too serious.

The group moved into a circle, and of course Elinor just so happened to be straight across from him. He sent her a wink, and to his surprise, she stuck her tongue out at him for a brief second, before looking away.

“Alright, Bobby, you start, since it was your idea.”

“Okay, never have I ever been arrested,” he asked, looking around the circle. Much to his surprise, Elinor took a sip of her drink, along with Lottie. Clearly Bobby wasn’t the only one shocked by that answer, as Gary’s eyes widened a little.

“Since when were you arrested?” the blond questioned.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Lottie explained, “Elinor and I were out shopping, and some toddler dropped some sunglasses in El’s handbag by accident, but we both got arrested for it. They reviewed the security tapes, and realised we were innocent. No harm done.”

“Promise I’m not a thief,” Elinor grinned, “But it was super embarrassing.”

“Alright, criminal, well you can go next,” Bobby teased, and she rolled her eyes, but it was obviously playful.

“Aren’t we meant to be going round the circle?”

“Yeah, it’s my go!” Miles protested, and Bobby just shrugged, admitting defeat, “Never have I ever sucked on someone’s toes!”

“That was definitely targeted!” Bobby groaned, taking a sip, which earned him a quizzical look from Elinor, but luckily Lottie, Gary, and Priya all drank as well.

“Not targeted if you’re not the only one, mate,” Miles winked, “Or didn’t you tell everyone about your Toe Boy reputation?”

“Aaaaaanyway,” Noah said, swiftly moving the conversation on, “Never have I ever slept with someone whose name I didn’t know.”

That earned a couple of drinks, as did the ‘never have I ever had someone walk in on me having sex’ from Ibrahim, and a question about being thrown out of a club from Gary. Next up was Lottie, who licked her lips devilishly before asking.

“Never have I ever slept with my boss.”

Priya drank, with a wink towards Ibrahim (which definitely made Miles scowl beside Bobby), but so did Elinor. Clearly Lottie had targeted that one towards two of her close friends.

“You?” Bobby mouthed, pointing at her. She shrugged, her cheeks tinted a little pink.

“Doesn’t matter,” she mouthed back, not looking at him in the eye. Bobby’s own eyes were wide as he sat back in his seat. Honestly, he hadn’t expected that from Elinor. Was that why she had managed to keep her job after the disastrous ball the previous year, knowing the charity world was as cutthroat as she had told him? And why would Lottie bring that up?

“Never have I ever… uhh… kissed a celebrity!” Chelsea’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. Only Gary drank that time, eliciting a frown from Lottie.

“Some bird from TOWIE on a night out. Nothing special.” He threw his arm around Lottie’s shoulders, as if to prove his point.

“Hardly a celebrity,” the blonde scoffed under her breath.

“Okay, hmm,” Elinor began, before Lottie could make any more remarks, “Never have I ever slept with…”

She looked at Lottie pointedly, “Or tried to sleep with my friend’s sibling.”

Obviously, that was payback for the previous question, and Lottie drank with a grumble.

“Years ago, and you’ve not let me live it down since.”

“And I won’t,” Elinor replied smugly.

“You’re all so mean,” Priya laughed, “Okay, never have I ever…”

The night continued, with a few secrets being revealed (namely, that Priya and Noah had slept together, which got an even more irritated reaction from Miles), before the group decided that they were drunk enough to head out.

“It’s only a short walk!” Gary said breezily, the alcohol clearly having gone enough to his head that he didn’t even feel the chilly night air, “See, you don’t even need a jacket!”

Bobby just chuckled, rubbing his goose-pimply arms to try and get a little warmer. Why on earth had he heeded Gary’s advice to wear a short-sleeved shirt without a jacket again?

“Hey mate,” Miles piped up from beside him, “You don’t mind if I go talk to Priya, do you? Might be my only chance before we get in there.”

“And you think Rahim’s going to steal her away?” Bobby grinned mischievously, “Sure thing.”

Miles uttered a thanks, before jogging ahead to catch up with Priya. Bobby watched them for a few seconds, before he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye.

“Go on then,” Elinor said, coming up beside him. Bobby looked at her curiously, “I know you want to know about the whole boss thing.”

“Oh, right, that,” he shrugged, “Just didn’t seem like the sort of thing you’d do.”

“It isn’t,” she sighed, “It was at my first job. I was young and naïve, and I thought he was really into me. Turns out, he liked his wife better. Who knew, right?”

Bobby frowned a little, “That sucks. I’m sure you’re not the only one he did that to though.”

“Not really a comfort,” she shrugged, “I’m over it. It was completely consensual, we were both over eighteen, it just wasn’t the right thing to do. I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Which is?”

“Don’t get involved with co-workers. _Especially_ not your boss.”

He took the opportunity to be a little cheekier than he would have been with less alcohol in him, “And that includes me, does it?”

She raised her eyebrows at him, “Don’t tell me you were lying when you told Lottie that you didn’t have a crush on me.”

“She told you that?”

“She tells me _everything_.”

He shrugged, “Well, no, I wasn’t lying. I don’t like you in that way. Actually, I was more asking whether you saw us as co-workers, or –”

“Friends?” she finished his sentence, “Hmm, that might be pushing it, but we don’t work together anymore, so I guess we’re not co-workers. Still not going to sleep with you though.”

“Wasn’t asking you to,” he grinned, “Unless you _want_ a piece of Captain B. Smooth?”

She rolled her eyes playfully, but there was a smile playing on her lips “You’re really pushing your luck Bobby McKenzie. No, I don’t.”

“I know, I know,” he chuckled. He wasn’t being serious about it, but it was admittedly fun to wind her up a little, which was certainly easier to do now that they didn’t work together.

“Good,” she paused for a moment, “Now, I’m curious. Tell me about that toe thing.”


	7. Cherry

It was a few hours later, and the whole group was, in a word, smashed. Miles was attempting to chat up a very disinterested Priya at the bar (who clearly couldn’t understand his accent), Gary and Lottie were sucking face in a dark corner somewhere, and as for Bobby? He had one hand in Chelsea’s and the other in Nicky’s, and the three of them were screeching their heads off to Queen. Although he certainly hadn’t had as much to drink as his drinking competition with Gary (yet, anyway), he was still certifiably drunk, and therefore was performing some _very_ interesting dance moves, twirling both of his companions every so often.

A light tap on his shoulder jolted him out of his award-winning end note, and he turned around to see a girl with deep red hair and cherry-red lips smiling at him.

“Hi,” she said over the music, stepping a little closer so he could hear her, “I’m Cherry.”

“Bobby,” he replied, a little confused, “What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to dance?” her gaze trailed over to the bar for a moment, and he followed it to see who he presumed were her friends all huddled in a group, trying to pretend that they weren’t watching them. _Oh._ Was this some sort of a pickup line?

“Love to,” he smiled after a moment, letting go of Nicky and Chelsea’s hands. The two of them seemed to shrug it off, linking arms and singing to each other instead.

Cherry smiled and held out her own hand for him to take, which he gladly did, allowing her to pull him into a less crowded area of the dance floor.

“Please ignore my friends who are _totally_ staring at us right now,” she rolled her eyes playfully, “They’ll get bored of us in a minute.”

“No worries,” Bobby chuckled, twirling her in a circle, causing her to squeal softly, “I don’t think ignoring them will be a problem when I’ve got you in front of me.”

If she was blushing, he couldn’t see it under the lights, but clearly his flirtatious remark had impressed her, as a broad smile came to her face, and she tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

“Good,” she murmured close to his ear, before pulling away. He could feel his whole body heat up at that, the feeling of her warm breath causing goosebumps to rise on his skin.

He had never been one to pick up girls in a club in the past, but perhaps that was from a lack of trying. He was more used to playing the wingman role for Miles, and that was usually how he liked it, so it was pretty unusual that he had actually been approached, and by someone as gorgeous as Cherry to boot. It almost felt like he was dreaming.

Then again, there was still time to screw it up and go home alone. After all, he wasn’t exactly the best dancer, which could definitely prove to be a turn off…

And, as Cherry began to dance, his prospects of pulling seemed to dwindle by the second. There was _no way_ she wasn’t trained, and his moves (which consisted of side stepping, jumping, and a lot of strange arm movements) looked pretty pathetic in comparison. Meanwhile, she was stood there, hands all over her body, which was moving in the most enticing way possible. Should he touch her? Did she want him to?

His questions were answered when she finally grabbed his hands, moving them to her waist and pressing herself up against him as close as possible. He gulped, knowing that side stepping certainly wasn’t going to cut it anymore, and so he did his best to match her movement. Judging by her reaction, he was doing a pretty good job of it too.

“Tell me about yourself Bobby,” she purred in his ear, her hands resting upon the part of his chest that his shirt was exposing.

“Like what?” he questioned, his head tilting a little.

“What do you like?”

“Um…” Was that a trick question? Did she really want to know about his hobbies when she was grinding against him so effortlessly, “Well, I like baking in my spare time, and – “

“Not like that,” she interrupted, hands moving inside his shirt, making his breath catch in his throat, “I mean, what do you _like_?”

_Ohhhh._

“I like dancing with you,” he answered truthfully, hoping that was closer to the answer she was looking for. Even though he was struggling to keep up, he had to admit that dancing with Cherry was doing things to him that he hadn’t felt in a loooong time, not that he would admit that part. Then again, she could probably tell from how close her body was to his.

Maybe Gary wasn’t the only one who was going to be pulling that night.

“Oh?” she pulled back a little, a smirk playing upon her lips. Bobby nodded quickly.

“Do you think you’d like it if I did this?”

Once more, her face was close to his, her lips brushing against his jawline.

“Mhmm…” he replied slowly, unsure of what was going to happen. He could feel Cherry’s lips curl up into a smile against his skin, before pressing a gentle kiss just below his ear, causing a shiver to run up his spine. His grip tightened on her waist.

“Are you nervous?” Cherry asked, still close to his ear.

“Uh…” She definitely took that as a yes, but that didn’t stop her from continuing her trail of featherlight kisses along his jawline, before hovering just above his lips.

“Can I kiss you, Bobby?” It hardly sounded like a question, and he was able to just about choke out a yes before her lips were on his, kissing him hard. He immediately kissed back, her hands coming to rest on the back of his neck, pulling his face closer to hers. It was… nice. Not earth-shatteringly nice, not ‘this is the girl I want to spend my life with’ nice, but nice all the same. And definitely, _definitely_ hot. Goddamn, Cherry sure knew how to kiss.

“Uhh, Bobby?” A voice came from behind him, and he jumped away from Cherry, blushing furiously. It was the girl he recognised to be Hope, and he managed to smile at her as though she hadn’t just caught him making out with a virtual stranger.

“Aye?” he said, scratching the back of his neck.

“Your friend Miles? He’s in a bad way, I think you need to go sort him out,” her arms were crossed over her chest, but there was a flicker of amusement in her eyes at his obvious embarrassment. Bobby’s brow furrowed, and he looked over at Cherry, who looked less than pleased that their little make out session had been interrupted.

_So much for pulling._

“Oh, uh, right, aye,” he stammered, looking back at Hope, “One sec.”

He turned to Cherry, plastering a goofy smile on his face to try and ease the tension, “I’m sorry, I have to go help my friend. Can I get your number?”

Cherry looked to be contemplating it, before she sighed, pulling out her phone, “Fine.”

They quickly exchanged numbers and said their goodbyes, before he turned back to Hope, who was tapping her foot impatiently.

“Lead the way,” he gestured. Bobby didn’t miss the roll of her eyes as she grabbed his wrist and turned on her heel, dragging him towards the smoking area. Miles was sat on a bench, his head in his hands, whilst Elinor and a less than amused Priya were a couple paces away.

“Oh good, you’re here,” Priya had a frown on her face, “Your _friend_ tried to kiss me, and then threw up on my shoes!”

“Jesus Christ,” Bobby ran a hand through his dreads, “Fucking Miles.”

“He’s your problem now,” she scowled, “Hope, can we head home? I _really_ am not in the mood tonight.”

“Of course, babes,” Hope patted her back sympathetically, “We’ll go back to yours and then maybe, once you’ve changed your shoes, we can see if you want to come back, yeah?”

Priya nodded, linking her arm through Hope’s as they walked back inside. Elinor just sighed, looking over at Bobby.

“Okay, first of all, you might want to wipe your face,” she raised her eyebrows at him, and he wiped his mouth furiously with the back of his hand, realising that he probably had Cherry’s lipstick smeared all over him. Elinor watched his efforts for a few moments, before rolling her eyes and taking a step closer.

“You’ve missed a spot. Or, several spots to be more precise,” she dug through the little cross-body bag she’d brought, before producing a tissue, “Let me get it, you’re just smearing it all over the place the way you’re going about it.”

Before Bobby could react, she was right in front of him, nearly as close as Cherry had been. His arm lowered slowly, as she reached up to wipe at the red lipstick that was colouring his lips and jaw. Up close, he could see every detail of Elinor’s face: her long lashes, the perfect wing of her eyeliner, the little beauty mark just below her eyebrow, the way her brow furrowed in concentration. Even though he was certain that he didn’t have a crush on her, and nor did he want to either, he couldn’t deny that she was one of the most stunning people he had ever met, and their close proximity and how gently she was running the tissue over his lips had his heart racing at a million miles a second. As her brown eyes met his, he felt his stomach twist, and he could have sworn her movements slowed down, something in her eyes imploring him to close the gap between them…

And then Miles threw up again, and the moment was over before he knew it.

“Right, all done,” she smiled at her handiwork, before stepping away again, seemingly not noticing how fazed Bobby was. He just stood there, blinking for a second before snapping back to reality and his duty to care for his friend. But, _what the hell was that?_ Five minutes before, he’d been all over Cherry, but now he was actually considering kissing Elinor too, when she was cleaning another woman’s lipstick off of his face? It must be the beer goggles, he decided. No way was he interested in her romantically in the slightest, it was just leftover horniness from Cherry’s actions. Yup, that was it.

“Okay, so we need a plan to get this one home,” Elinor gestured towards Miles, and Bobby nodded, “Obviously, I have to go home with Chelsea. Since Priya and Hope are already gone, that only leaves you, Lottie, Gary, Nicky, Rahim, Noah, and Seb.”

“Gary’s definitely bringing Lottie home,” Bobby confirmed, “That was the whole point of the evening, I bet.”

“And the rest of the boys can sort each other out probably,” she added, “So if I go grab Chelsea now, do you want our assistance in getting Miles home?”

“That would definitely be helpful,” he nodded, “I don’t think I can carry him by myself.”

“Alright. Honestly, I was ready to leave anyway,” she shrugged, before heading towards the door, “You wait here, and I’ll be right back.”

With that, she was gone, and Bobby sat down on the bench beside Miles.

“What am I going to do with you, mate?”

* * *

Elinor had returned with a very giggly Chelsea a few moments later, and somehow the four of them had managed to make it out of the club without Miles vomiting again. They stumbled out on the street (after a brief argument with one of the bouncers at the door, who didn’t want them taking drinks out of the club, even if it was only water), with Miles practically being dragged along by Elinor and Bobby, his arms slung around both of their shoulders and his head hanging low. Bobby wasn’t entirely convinced the poor man was actually awake. Chelsea was a few paces ahead, babbling on about a man who’d approached her at the bar, but who she’d rebuffed because she was far more interested in Tim. H story was pretty much going in one ear and out the other for Bobby; he was concentrating more on not tripping over his own feet and taking Miles and Elinor down with him.

“So, Bobby,” Elinor began once her flatmate had finished, “Care to tell me why I had to wipe red lipstick off of your face this evening?”

“Oooh!” Chelsea gave him a look, and he groaned, feeling his cheeks flush. Of course that was going to come up eventually, although he’d assumed Hope would be the one to do it. He hadn’t really expected Elinor to care that much, figuring she was too professional to bring it up.

“I just met someone,” he shrugged eventually, eliciting another ‘ooh’ from Chelsea, “And we got along.”

“Very well, it seems,” Elinor was smirking, much to his annoyance, “Did you get a name?”

“Cherry, I think.”

“Oh yeah, I think I’ve met her,” she shrugged dismissively, “Red hair and a little black dress, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Met her in the loos. That’s how girls make best friends,” she winked.

“Oh yeah! She was really nice!” Chelsea confirmed, “Go Bobby!”

Another blush, “I don’t think it’ll happen; I think I was meant to be a one-night stand. I did get her number though.”

“Go Bobby!” Chelsea repeated, punching the air enthusiastically.

“Well there you go then,” Elinor said, “She’s interested.”

“You think?”

“That, or she thought you were a major creep. Either way, you’ll find out when you text the number and see if she blocks you.”

“Right…” That had definitely stoked a bit of insecurity in him, and he hoped she hadn’t felt forced to give him her number.

“I’m sure she doesn’t think that though!” Chelsea added, “You’re soooo nice Bobby! Tim told me that too!”

Bobby rolled his eyes playfully, “Well, I’ll keep you updated if you’re really interested.”

He definitely wasn’t going to, but might as well make the promise if it would hopefully end that conversation.

“Ooh yes! I want to hear all about you and Cheeeeerry!” Chelsea teased. Elinor had clearly sensed a little awkwardness from him, because she swiftly changed the subject.

“What _I_ want to hear about is Priya and Rahim! She was eyeing him up all night, until Miles decided to, quite literally, spill his guts.”

“Oh Em Gee, yes!” Chelsea squealed. Bobby silently thanked Elinor, glad for the heat to be off him, before joining in the speculating over their friends’ possible dalliance as they made their way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to put an author's note on the previous chapter, so I'll just say double thank you to you all for reading, and I hope you're enjoying the story so far! 💗
> 
> Any comments and kudos are always appreciated! 💗


	8. Flirt

It was about a week since their night out, and Bobby was on the closing shift at the restaurant. Honestly, he preferred it to the morning shift, and it was usually the same one Rocco worked too, so the two of them could leave together. Plus, it was always amusing watching Rocco try to chat up whichever female bartender (even the male ones on occasion) was working at the time, to no avail. That evening, Lily was on the bar, and once Bobby’s shift had finished, he found Rocco sat on one of the barstools, smirking at the blonde. Unlike Allegra, Lily was very clear about having no desire to continue working as a bartender; instead she was an Industrial Design student at a local university who needed the money to pay her rent, but surprisingly she was one of their best bartenders, and always had ideas for new cocktails. Bobby honestly admired her and her creativity a lot, and he could tell that Jake was disappointed she wouldn’t be staying on after her degree was finished.

“Evening Lily,” Bobby grinned as he strolled up to his two friends, “Rocco isn’t bothering you, is he?”

“You know she finds me charming,” Rocco winked, causing Lily to roll her eyes.

“No, he’s not bothering me,” she replied as she polished a glass, “But he seems convinced that I’m interested in him.”

“Well, you haven’t told me to back off yet,” the redhead pointed out, earning him another eye roll. While Allegra was more forthright in her rejection of Rocco, considering she had a boyfriend, Lily was more adept at finding subtle ways to undermine him. Honestly, it was rather amusing to watch.

“Because it’s funny listening to you try to woo me, knowing you’re failing miserably,” the blonde smirked, turning away from him, “Although, actually today I _do_ have to tell you to back off, since I’ve got a date tonight.”

“At this time? Isn’t it a bit late for that?” Bobby questioned, sitting down next to Rocco.

“Yeah, sounds fake to me,” Rocco eyed her suspiciously, “You sure this isn’t an excuse?”

“For once, no,” she shrugged, “I’d tell you if it was, but I actually do have a date. Well, it’s more a ‘Netflix and Chill’ kinda deal, but I’m still counting it.”

“Uh huh,” he didn’t sound convinced, “And who’s the lucky man? Anyone I know?”

“Who said it’s a man?” a mysterious smile played upon her lips as she grabbed another glass.

“Don’t tell me you’re gay,” Rocco’s face fell, “I always flirt with the gay ones!”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head Rocco dear, I’m not gay,” she reached over to pat him on the head, “But my date _is_ a woman. Contrary to some people’s ridiculous beliefs, I can like men and women.”

Rocco folded his arms over his chest, “Well, _I_ still don’t believe you have a date.”

“I mean, you can believe what you want,” Lily shrugged, “But she’s coming here to pick me up in a few, so you can see for yourself then.”

“I guess I will,” he huffed, before turning to Bobby, “What about you then mate? Your love life going any better than mine is right now?”

Bobby’s cheeks flushed, “Maybe…”

“That’s a yes! Who’s the lucky girl then, unless you wanna blindside me too.”

The Scot chuckled, “Her name’s Cherry, we met at a nightclub.”

He had been hesitant to text her after their moment was interrupted, and Elinor’s words hadn’t exactly boosted his confidence, but Gary and Noah had been so encouraging that he figured that he had nothing to lose by giving it a shot. She’d replied only minutes later, and the two had struck up a pretty decent conversation. She was funny, intelligent, and if her social media profiles were anything to go by, incredibly beautiful as well. He felt like he’d hit the jackpot.

“The best place to meet women,” he nodded sagely, and out of the corner of his eye Bobby could see Lily roll her eyes.

“I mean, I haven’t seen her since then, but we’ve been texting and she seems really nice. She’s an actress.”

“Oh really?”

“Aye. Right now she’s in Les Mis, something called a swing, whatever that means.”

Even after Cherry had explained to him in detail what her job was, he still didn’t understand it, but he figured that she must be pretty damn good to be in a show that even he had heard of like Les Misérables.

“Well, good for you Bobby!” Lily chimed in, “I was wondering when you’d find someone.”

“Oh?” he laughed, “Sorry for being hopeless, I guess.”

“Not like that! I mean, you’re a good looking guy. It was just a surprise to me to find out you’re single, is all.”

Bobby just shrugged.

“You’ve never called me good looking,” Rocco pouted.

“Oh, look!” Lily smiled, ignoring the question, “There’s my date now!”

Through the door strutted a tall woman, with glasses and red lipstick, and even though the tips of her hair were tucked into her scarf, she was instantly recognisable to Bobby as the woman Elinor had been talking to after the charity ball, the one that Tim had said she was crushing on hardcore.

Marisol.

“Hey!” she called, and Lily came out from behind the bar to hug her tightly, “This is your work? It’s a nice place, I’ve never been here before, but I know the owner’s sister.”

Elinor. Of course. Everyone in the whole of bloody London seemed to know Elinor.

“I got lucky with it for sure,” Lily grinned, pulling away, “Right, introductions. Bobby, Rocco, this is Marisol. Marisol, this is Bobby and Rocco.”

“Lovely to meet you,” Marisol smiled pleasantly, holding out her hand for both of the guys to shake. While Bobby shook her hand normally, Rocco instead decided to place a kiss on her knuckles, which caused a raised eyebrow from Marisol and Lily to glare at him.

“…Right,” she stepped away, “Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but we really should be going, shouldn’t we Lils?”

“Actually, you can chat for a little longer, I need to grab my stuff from the staffroom,” Lily replied, a hint of apology in her voice. Marisol shrugged.

“Alright then, but be quick babe. It’s getting late.”

Lily nodded and headed off quickly to the staffroom. Marisol turned back once more to the boys.

“So, what do you both do?” she asked, before squinting at them a little, “Bobby, you look strangely familiar to me, have I met you before.”

“I’m actually a chef here,” he replied, trying not to sound like he’d recognised her immediately, “I catered one of those charity balls for the owner’s sister, I think you mentioned you know her?”

Clearly his acting worked, a charm because Marisol didn’t seem to realise that he most definitely knew who she was. Cherry would be proud. Instead, the brunette’s eyes lit up.

“Oh yeah! I was there, your food was delicious,” she smiled, “You must know Elinor then?”

“A little, aye.” No need to mention that she just so happened to be besties with his roommate’s almost-girlfriend, or that they’d been on a night out together and he’d very nearly kissed her. That was something he wanted to forget too, but Bobby had to admit that he’d thought about that moment quite a few times since, much to his embarrassment. He certainly didn’t have feelings for her, and he was perfectly happy with flirting with Cherry, so he had no idea why that moment (that probably wasn’t even really a moment) kept crossing his mind. If he was going to start a relationship with the actress, he needed to forget all about it.

“She’s great,” Marisol nodded, but Bobby couldn’t help but notice how her smile became a little tighter. What was going on there? He’d have to dig for the gossip from Gary, or maybe Lottie would be eager to spill.

Rocco seemed a bit miffed at being completely ignored by Marisol, but before he could complain or offer up a sleazy comment, Lily came out of the staffroom, her coat now on and her bag slung over her shoulder.

“Ready to go babe?” she asked, and Marisol smiled over at her, a real, genuine smile. It was obvious they fancied the pants off of each other, so it seemed like Elinor’s crush was one-sided after all. _Interesting…_

Not that he cared. He didn’t like her, nope. He was just curious about the drama that could be going on there, that was all.

“Ready,” Marisol agreed, slipping her hand into Lily’s, “It was nice to meet you two. Let’s go.”

“I’ll see you soon boys,” Lily waved at them with her free hand as the two of them made their way to the exit. Rocco stared at them the whole way out, and Bobby nudged him playfully.

“Perv,” he chuckled.

“Can you blame me?”

“Yes.”

“Well then,” he heaved himself up off the barstool, and Bobby did the same, “Right mate, let’s get going, yeah?”

“Yeah, I’m exhausted,” Bobby stretched a little, his tiredness only just hitting him.

“Same here.”

The two of them headed towards the staffroom to grab their bags. Once they were all sorted, they left together, walking to the tube station side by side.

“I tell you,” Rocco said, jabbing his finger at the air as the two waited for their train, “Someday Allegra will come to her senses and realise that she likes me.”

“Oh, so you’ve forgotten all about Lily, have you?” Bobby chuckled.

“Well, I’ve met her lady friend now. I have yet to meet Allegra’s so-called castle-owning boyfriend,” his words came out bitter, and Bobby stifled a laugh. He loved Rocco, but man was he ridiculous. He couldn’t blame the girls for rejecting him.

“Maybe you should just get on Tinder or something mate,” he suggested.

“Like I’m not,” Rocco scoffed, stepping onto the tube. Bobby followed him closely; luckily it wasn’t too busy so the two were able to grab seats next to each other.

“It’s different though, isn’t it?” the redhead continued.

“How so?”

“Well, I’ve met Allegra and Lily in real life, so I know they’re just as hot as they say they are. Sometimes with Tinder girls you don’t know what they’ll be like until you meet them.”

Bobby shrugged, “I wouldn’t know.”

“It’s like you with Cherry then. Yeah, you’ve mostly just texted, but you’ve actually met her, even if it was dark in there, so you know she’s worth pursuing.”

“Looks aren’t everything…” he pointed out, but Rocco continued.

“I dunno mate. Maybe I’m doing something wrong.”

_You can say that again._ Bobby chose not to answer, instead paying attention to the stations rushing by through the window. Silence fell between them, only the clacking of the tube and the hushed conversations of the other passengers to be heard, until Rocco piped up again.

“What about Elinor?”

Bobby’s eyebrows raised, “What about her?”

“Well, do you think she’d go for a guy like me?”

Bobby snorted, “Doubt it. I hear she goes for people who are more established, I guess.”

_Just like Marisol._ Or not, if Marisol was dating Lily. Why did the thought of that make him feel all tingly and nervous?

Rocco shrugged, “Eh, fair enough. Don’t think I want to get on the boss’ bad side either by going after her, but it was worth asking.”

“Probably a good idea.”

Rocco quickly changed the subject, and Bobby was happy to talk about literally anything else. His feelings were starting to get confusing, and even though he knew that there wasn’t much he could do about that, it still didn’t feel good to possibly like two girls at once, especially when he couldn’t be with one of them. He’d just have to focus on Cherry even more, he decided, so he could get Elinor out of his head once and for all. It was the wise thing to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter ❤️ Any comments/kudos are always appreciated ❤️


	9. Invite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! 💕 So sorry this is a little late, it's been another hectic week, but I hope you enjoy this chapter! 💕

“Soooo, how did it go?” Gary asked the moment Bobby stepped into the flat. He was sat at the kitchen island, Noah stood across from with his head in the fridge. At the sound of Gary’s question, he peeked round the fridge door at Bobby, his eyebrows raised expectantly.

Bobby simply groaned in response, falling face first on the sofa and burying his face in one of the pillows. Gary and Noah shot a look at each other, before looking back at the Scot.

“I’m guessing that’s not an ‘it went brilliantly’ then?” Noah questioned, his tone gentle, not wanting to push Bobby too hard.

“It was awful!” Bobby replied, his voice muffled by the pillow, “Things were fine over text, but in person it just didn’t work at all!”

That afternoon, he’d been on a lunch date with Cherry. After texting for a couple of weeks, they’d decided that they should meet in person, without the alcohol or the pounding music, to see if they were compatible or not.

It had not gone well.

The connection he’d felt with her the night they’d met was non-existent. She’d looked exactly as he’d remembered, which he supposed was a good thing considering how drunk he’d been the first time, but that was the only good point about their meal (aside from the food, of course).

“What happened?” Gary swivelled round in his chair to talk to him, while Noah, a slice of leftover takeaway pizza in hand, sat down on the sofa, nudging Bobby’s legs out the way. Bobby just simply rolled onto the floor, another groan leaving his lips.

“It was like she didn’t even want to be there! She didn’t laugh at any of my jokes, she was in the bathroom for at least fifteen minutes at one point, and to make things worse the waiter spilled water on me!”

He dramatically gestured to the tiny remaining wet patch on the front of his shirt.

“Yikes,” Gary cringed, “But, mate, don’t worry about it. Plenty more fish in the sea, as the saying goes.”

Bobby just groaned again, and Noah patted him on the shoulder with his foot.

“Seriously,” the librarian added, “She just wasn’t right for you.”

“Nobody’s right for me,” Bobby mumbled, “This always happens.”

Noah and Gary exchanged another look.

“Oh, come on, how hard can it be to find a girl who finds you funny?” the blond questioned.

“You’d be surprised,” Bobby rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.

“Bobby, seriously,” Noah gave him a hard stare, “Stop with the pity party. Just because Cherry doesn’t like you doesn’t mean nobody will.”

“…I guess so,” Bobby sighed, “But let me mope a little longer.”

“Fine, enjoy your moping,” Noah shrugged, getting up and nudging him with his foot, “But make it quick, we want the real Bobby back.”

Bobby snorted quietly, “Okay, okay. Actually… I think I’m going to bake something, that always helps.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Gary rubbed his hands together as Bobby stood up, “What’re you thinking?”

“Just cupcakes,” Bobby shrugged, making his way over to the kitchen and opening the fridge, “I think I’ve got all the ingredients already.”

“You know, maybe we should set you up on shitty dates more often if we’re gonna get food out of it,” his flatmate joked back, and Bobby chuckled.

“We’ll see if you get a cupcake after that remark,” he teased.

“You know you love me,” Gary batted his eyelashes at him, prompting another laugh. Noah rolled his eyes playfully.

“Maybe you two should go on a date,” he suggested, but there was a joking tone to his words.

“Ha, Bobby and I would love that,” Gary grinned, “I do the best dates, I’d sweep you off your feet in no time mate.”

“Oh Gary, is that your way of asking me out?” Bobby made a kissy face at him, “Because I accept!”

“Get a room you two,” Noah laughed, and Bobby just grinned in response, slinging an arm over Gary’s shoulder.

“Sorry if we keep you up tonight Noah, we all know Gare-bear over here can’t keep his hands off of me.”

“Ooookay,” Gary laughed, peeling Bobby’s arm off of him, “If you say so.”

“I do,” he gave him a teasing smile, before turning his attention back to gathering ingredients, feeling infinitely better than he had just five minutes before. He’d only known his flatmates for a few short months, and yet they were already thick as thieves, and he couldn’t thank them enough for making him feel so welcome in an unfamiliar city.

“So,” Bobby continued, grabbing some butter from the fridge, “Chocolate chip cupcakes?”

“Now you’re speaking my language!” Gary cheered, “Need any help?”

“You can just sit there and look pretty,” Bobby patted him on the head, and Gary chuckled.

“That I can do. Mind if I invite Lozza round? I’m sure she’d appreciate these cupcakes as much as I will.”

The pleading look on his face was enough to make Bobby crack, “Oookay, fine. But don’t ever say I’m not an amazing wingman.”

“I mean, she’s my girlfriend, so I think I’m all good on the wing manning front,” Gary chuckled, “But I appreciate it.”

“What about you then?” Bobby winked at Noah, who rolled his eyes again, “Need my expertise and incredible baking skills to bag you a girlfriend too?”

“I think I’m good,” he replied, “But I’ll let you know in the future.”

Bobby just blew him a kiss in response, which made Gary snort with laughter.

“Glad your moping didn’t last that long,” he remarked, and Bobby just shrugged.

“Never does when cake is involved,” he winked.

* * *

The next day was a Friday, and Bobby was back at work, this time on the lunchtime shift. It had been surprisingly quiet, and so Jake was able to chat a bit more with the chefs while they cooked, which Bobby always enjoyed, since usually he preferred to work quietly so as not to be too distracted. The man was fascinating, and it didn’t exactly hurt that he was so handsome too.

“Got any plans for the weekend?” Jake asked, leaning against one of the counters, his eyes following Bobby’s every movement to ensure it was perfect.

“Nope, probably just gonna be me, my flatmates, and a Netflix marathon,” he shrugged, “What about you?”

“Ah, well, Elinor should be over at the end of my shift so we can go out for a meal together.”

Bobby tried to hide the faint blush that appeared on his cheeks at the mention of her name, “Oh really? What’s the occasion?”

“It’s actually her birthday today,” Jake replied, “I figured I’d treat her to some good food.”

“And you’re not bringing her here?” Bobby teased.

“I’m sure she’s sick of my cooking,” Jake chuckled, “Otherwise I would. Nah, her, Val, and I have a reservation at this really nice place in London we’ve always wanted to go to. It costs an arm and a leg though.”

“Doesn’t everything in London?” Bobby joked, and Jake laughed, just as another couple of orders came through, and they were forced back into working quietly again to get them done.

While his attention may have mostly been on the cooking, for the rest of his shift Bobby felt a little on edge at the knowledge that Elinor was going to be coming to the restaurant, and it would be his first time seeing her since their night out. With Cherry now out of the picture, he’d had more time to dwell on their little ‘moment’, much to his displeasure. Clearly, something was wrong with him to be thinking about something as miniscule and insignificant as that, and yet there had been a little flicker in her eyes of _something_ that he couldn’t quite seem to let go of. And, even though he knew he really, really had no chance in hell of ever getting her to like him… he couldn’t help but wonder if all of those thoughts meant that he might have some sort of feelings for her…

He recognised the click of her heels before he even saw her, and his heart sped up automatically, letting him know that he most certainly _did._ _Pull yourself together, McKenzie_ , he chastised himself, plastering a smile on his face in preparation.

“Alright Jake, are you ready to go?” he heard her say behind him, and he turned his head slightly to see Jake nod affirmatively.

“Yup, just have to go grab Val and we’re all yours,” he smiled, “Back in a sec.”

He darted out of the kitchen to grab his fiancée, leaving Elinor alone with Bobby (well, not exactly alone, considering there were a few other people in the kitchen, but in his eyes it may as well have been just the two of them). He turned to look at her.

“Happy Birthday!” he smiled cheerfully, managing to hide his nerves from appearing on his face, “Sorry I didn’t know, otherwise I’d have got you something.”

“No worries,” she laughed softly, turning a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, “I didn’t expect you to, unless Gary would have told you, and I don’t expect him to remember.”

“Nah, he didn’t. What age are we celebrating then?”

Elinor frowned a little, telling him instantly that he’d made a mistake in asking, “Don’t you know to never ask a lady her age?”

_Dammit._ “Oh, uh, sorry.”

She waved her hand dismissively, “It’s fine, I guess it’s not like it’s anything to be ashamed of anyway. I’m turning twenty-four.”

“Same age as me!”

She let out a slightly disbelieving laugh, “Really? Honestly I thought you were a little younger than me.”

“Ouch,” he held his hand over his heart as though he’d been mortally wounded, “Are you saying you thought I was a teenager?”

“Well no, otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten in the nightclub, would you?” she rolled her eyes playfully, “I just thought you were around twenty, twenty-one.”

“ _Ouch!”_ he emphasised, and she laughed.

“Sorry! You’ve got a young-looking face is all!”

“Nah, you think I’m immature,” he teased.

“Well, yes,” Another roll of the eyes, “But you are young looking. I thought the same of Chelsea when I first met her too.”

“She _does_ look young,” Bobby laughed, before deciding to change the subject, “Any plans for the big day, other than going out with Jake?”

“Not really much today, I managed to get a half day off though which is nice,” she shrugged, “My main party is tomorrow night.”

“Oh?”

“Oh yeah, Gary didn’t tell you? I’m having a house party.”

“I thought you lived in a flat?” His heart fluttered at her question about Gary, wondering whether she’d wanted him to know about it or not.

“Well, I do, but the party’s actually at Hope’s, since she has a proper house,” Elinor replied, before frowning a little, “I’m surprised Gary didn’t tell you, I thought he would.”

“Nope,” Bobby shrugged, “I’ve heard absolutely nothing.”

“Ah,” her frown deepened, before she shook it off, smiling at him instead, “Well, do you want to come if you’re not busy? There’ll be plenty of drink, and I know Chelsea’s planning on bringing her karaoke machine if that’s your sort of thing.”

Bobby couldn’t help but think that he shouldn’t be quite so excited at being invited to her birthday party, and yet his heart was beating out of his chest at the thought. _For fuck’s sake McKenzie, out of all the girls you could fancy…_

“Sounds like fun,” he grinned, “I do an absolutely killer rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody!”

“Lord help us all,” she muttered, rolling her eyes, before grinning at him. There was a softness in her eyes that he rarely saw with her, and it made him smile even more, “Alright then, give me your number and I’ll text you all the details. I’d say get them off Gary, but…”

“Clearly he’s unreliable,” Bobby chuckled, and she nodded, smiling as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. She quickly typed in her number, before handing it back.

“Right, I’m going to go check on Jake and Val, but I’ll text you, yeah?”

A blush came to his cheeks, “Right, yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“See you tomorrow,” she gave him one last smile, before turning on her heel and walking out.

“Have a good birthday!” he called after her, and he could have sworn he heard her thank him as she walked away.

* * *

Later that evening, just as he was getting tucked up in bed, his phone buzzed, and he looked over to see who had decided to contact him that late at night.

**_Elinor Wilson:_ ** _Here’s the address._

**_Elinor Wilson:_ ** _I’ll see you tomorrow Bobby_ _😊_

Bobby smiled down at his phone, before turning it off so he could get to sleep. Of course, it wasn’t quite that easy, his overactive imagination wondering why exactly she’d asked him to come to her party, when not that long ago she definitely hadn’t even liked him. Did that mean they were friends?

And, if so, what did that mean when it came to his newfound feelings for her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 💕 Any comments or kudos are always welcome and very much appreciated! 💕


	10. Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your lovely comments on this story, they really do mean the world to me ❤️ 
> 
> On with the chapter!

The next evening, Bobby arrived at Hope’s house, a bottle of wine with a bow on it clutched in his hand, and Gary on his other side.

“I’m still sorry I didn’t tell you about the party mate, you know what I’m like,” Gary apologised as they approached the door. Clearly, he felt bad about it, considering this wasn’t the first apology Bobby had received, but honestly the Scot wasn’t too bothered. A personal invite from Elinor was _way_ better than hearing it from Gary, not that he was about to tell him that.

“For the billionth time, it’s fine,” Bobby chuckled, “You don’t have to beg at my feet for forgiveness.”

“Sorry,” Gary grinned, “You made it anyway though, I can’t believe Elinor invited you.”

“I can’t believe it either mate, but I guess we’re friends now,” he knocked on the door, despite Elinor’s earlier text to just walk in. He wanted to be polite (and not be left with the wine, otherwise he’d be sorely tempted to drink it all himself).

“You’re welcome,” the blond replied in a sing-songy voice. Bobby was about to ask what he meant by that, when the door opened to a giggly Elinor, flanked by Hope.

“Bobby, Gary, hi!” she grinned, her eyes immediately landing on the bottle of wine, “Is that for me? Thank you! Come in!”

“You’re welcome,” Bobby chuckled, stepping inside and handing her the wine. Hope took it from her hands immediately.

“Maaaaaybe let’s not let her have this right now. She’s been drinking all day,” she rolled her eyes playfully.

“It’s my birthday, let me live!” Elinor playfully hit her friend’s arm. Bobby raised his eyebrows; he’d never seen her this intoxicated. Even when they’d gone on that night out together, she’d been fairly sober.

“As you can tell, I’m on babysitting duty,” Hope added.

“Well, I’m gonna go find Lottie before _I_ get lumped with her instead,” Gary said, “Later.”

He quickly made his exit, going straight for the kitchen, and Bobby was inclined to follow him until he felt Elinor’s hand on his shoulder.

“Bobby,” she smiled at him, and he begged his cheeks not to turn red, “Thanks for coming.”

“No worries,” he smiled back, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers, “Happy belated birthday.”

“Aww, thanks!”

“Sorry, Bobby, do you mind if I leave her with you for a moment? Apparently, nobody around here knows how to set up a karaoke machine,” Hope interjected, with yet another roll of her eyes.

“Aye, not a problem,” Bobby confirmed, and she smiled at him gratefully.

“Don’t let her have any more alcohol. She’ll tell you she’s sober, but she really isn’t.”

“I _am_ sober!” Elinor protested.

“See?” Hope smiled at her fondly, even if she did look a little bit exasperated, “I’ll be back soon.”

“Gotcha.”

Hope disappeared into the crowd, and Bobby turned his attention back to Elinor. Suddenly, he was nervous at the prospect of spending time alone with her, especially when she was drunk. Clearly, she liked to celebrate her birthday thoroughly.

“Right, let’s get you a drink?” he suggested. Going into the kitchen would mean he had Gary and Lottie around him, and he could definitely pretend that a cup of water was vodka instead to keep her happy.

“Naughty, Bobby,” she winked at him, and he felt his cheeks burn red. As a response, he gently took hold of her arm, trying to ignore his nerves, and led her into the kitchen. Gary and Lottie, as well as a few other people, were lingering in there, and he made his way to them.

“Dammit,” Gary grinned upon seeing them, “I thought we’d escaped you.”

“No chance,” Bobby laughed, “Can you just take care of her for one moment while I grab her a _drink_.”

He hoped his emphasis on the word would indicate just what sort of a drink he was going to get. Lottie nodded.

“Sure, but hurry back. I’m not babysitting all evening.”

“Oh, neither am I,” Bobby winked, “That’s Hope’s job.”

With that, he quickly darted over to the sink, making sure Elinor wasn’t looking his way before he filled up a clean cup with water. After he’d sorted her drink out, he poured himself one which definitely had alcohol in it. He needed to get drunk, and fast, since somehow everyone else around them already seemed pretty smashed.

“Vodka for you,” he held out the cup to Elinor once he’d walked back over to them, who took it with an unsuspecting smile, “And whisky for me. Cheers!”

“Down in one?” Lottie suggested, and the brunette smirked.

“A challenge, I like it,” she replied, before tilting the cup back and downing it immediately, “Gosh, this is some mild vodka!”

“Might have put too much mixer in there,” Bobby lied, quickly finishing his cup too, so as not to be outperformed.

“Aw. I’ll live,” she shrugged, before pointing at the door, “Ooh, there’s Hope!”

“I see she’s still alive,” Hope remarked, sauntering over to them.

“As you requested,” Bobby bowed dramatically.

“Good,” she smiled, “Anyway, karaoke machine’s set up, and I think Chelsea is about to do some Spice girls- “

“Not without me!” Elinor objected, starting to stumble towards the door. Bobby immediately grabbed onto her arm to stop her, which earned him a grateful look from Hope.

“Relax, she said she’d wait for you,” Hope replied, “So come on.”

Bobby released his grip, and Hope took her by the wrist, pulling her out the room. He watched her go, before turning to Gary and Lottie, who were both looking at him.

“Interesting,” Lottie remarked, a knowing look on her face.

“What?” Bobby questioned, feigning innocence even though he knew the blonde had seen right through him. The thought made him nervous; he wasn’t even fully sure when it came to his feelings for Elinor, so anyone else knowing about it was bound to spell disaster.

“Just the way you look at her,” she mused, “I think somebody’s got a bit of a crush.”

_Crap._

“Nah, I’m not interested in her like that,” he shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, “We’re friends, but definitely not romantic.”

“Hmm,” she pursed her lips, looking over at Gary, who shrugged as well. Clearly, he wasn’t sure who to believe, which Bobby considered good. At least there was a chance he wouldn’t take Lottie’s word to be true; after all, he hadn’t really mentioned Elinor for a while, nor had he ever told him about their little ‘moment’. As far as the blond knew, they were newfound friends.

And perhaps that’s all they were anyway. Bobby knew from what Tim had told him that Elinor wouldn’t go for someone like him, and presumably she was still interested in Marisol, despite her relationship with Lily. It was just a one-sided crush, and it would go away with time, he was sure of it.

“Alright,” Lottie conceded after a few moments of watching him closely, “But I’ll be checking your horoscope tomorrow, just in case.”

“You do that,” Bobby raised an eyebrow, “Meanwhile, I’m going to go sing some karaoke. My vocal warmups I did in the shower earlier won’t be for nothing!”

Before he got a reply, he quickly exited the conversation, going to grab himself a drink before he went to sing some karaoke. After all, if he was going to sing his heart out, he needed to be at least a little tipsy first.

* * *

The karaoke group were gathered in Hope’s living room, and Bobby joined the small crowd that had formed around Chelsea and Elinor, who were singing their hearts out to the Spice Girls. Neither of them had particularly impressive singing voices, but their passion more than made up for it.

“Bobby!” came the call from behind him, and he turned to see Tim, in far more casual clothing than he had been last time, “Good to see ya!”

“Hey mate!” Bobby grinned. Since the charity ball, they’d texted quite a bit, and had found that they were very similar personality-wise. It was like he’d found his long-lost brother from another mother (which was coincidentally Tim’s name in his phone).

“You made it! Are you going to sing?” he immediately jumped in with the question.

“Heck yeah!”

“Dude, we should sing something together!” Tim suggested, “We can do Baby! I’ll do the rap parts and you can be Justin Bieber!”

To Bobby’s mildly intoxicated brain, that sounded like the best idea in the world.

“Yessss! Let’s do it!” he cheered.

“I’ll put our names in the draw!” Tim decided, before going to grab a piece of paper. Bobby just grinned, before clapping wildly as the girls’ song came to an end.

* * *

Over hour later, and Bobby had just finished up a rousing performance of Bohemian Rhapsody, as he’d promised Elinor he would. His performance with Tim had gone down a treat, and they’d performed a couple more numbers together before Chelsea dragged Tim away, and so Bobby had decided to go solo instead. Somehow, he’d also managed to convince Gary to do a number with him, which had led to an incredible rendition of Summer Nights from Grease that had made Lottie almost piss herself laughing.

In all of the chaos, Bobby had lost Elinor, but he’d assumed that Hope was doing a good job with babysitting her anyway. If he was being honest, he was kinda glad not to see her, as being around her was only making him even more confused. He’d accepted that he did have feelings for her, but knew that they wouldn’t come to anything, and so he would have to get over her somehow. Maybe one of the girls at the party would be interested…

Before he got his graft on, he needed to go to the bathroom, and so he stumbled up the stairs, now a lot drunker than he had been before he’d sung karaoke. Luckily, he was still pretty much all there mentally, the real challenge was physical, but at least he wasn’t as drunk as he had been after his drinking competition with Gary.

He quickly managed to find Hope’s ensuite, which was a lot quieter than the main bathroom. After he’d done his business, he was just about to head downstairs when he heard a raised voice from the balcony outside Hope’s room. Peeking through the drawn curtains, he was surprised to see that it was Elinor, pacing up and down as she talked on the phone. Whatever conversation she was having, it sounded like there was some sort of an argument…

And, even though he hated being so nosy, Bobby didn’t want her to be upset at her own party, so once it sounded like she’d hung up, he gave it a couple more minutes before he decided to go onto the balcony. Elinor was sat down on a little bench, typing furiously on her phone, and she looked up when he came out.

“Oh, it’s you,” she plastered a smile on her face, seeming a little relieved at seeing him. He gave her a little wave.

“Hey, sorry, just wanted to get some air and didn’t think you’d be here,” Bobby lied.

“Oh, right, I can go…” she made a motion to stand up, but he stopped her.

“Don’t worry, you’re free to stay!” he smiled at her, and she nodded, gesturing for him to sit down beside her, which he gladly did. Their thighs brushed against each other, and he felt his breath catch in his throat, but luckily, she didn’t seem to notice.

“Are you okay?” he asked, after a brief moment of silence, “You seem a little down. I’d kinda expect you to be partying it up right now.”

“Mhmm,” she nodded once more unconvincingly, “Was just having a chat with a friend is all.”

It seemed like being outside had sobered her up a little, and he had to say that it was having the same effect on him too.

“Anyone I’d know?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Elinor leaned back in her seat, “It doesn’t matter, anyway.”

“Obviously it does matter if you’re sat out here instead of enjoying your birthday party,” he insisted, and she sighed, “You don’t have to tell me, but if there’s anything I can do to cheer you up, you only have to ask.”

She looked at him, and a small smile came to her face.

“Thanks Bobby,” she replied, before looking back down at her hands, “Actually, can you keep a secret?”

Bobby nodded, “My lips are sealed.”

He mimed zipping his mouth up, and she let out a breathy laugh.

“Now _that_ surprises me,” she teased, and he gasped in mock offence.

“Hey!”

“You asked for it!”

“I guess so,” he smiled, and Elinor smiled back, before her face returned to looking serious.

“Okay, so… the person I was talking to is called Marisol…”

“Marisol?”

_Oh._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ❤️ Any kudos or comments are always so appreciated! ❤️ 
> 
> Hope you all have a great week! ❤️


	11. Bet

Elinor raised her eyebrows at the shock in his voice.

“Yeah, Marisol. Do you know her or something?”

Bobby scratched the back of his neck, “I, uh… aye, I do. I mean, I think it’s the same one, I don’t know how many Marisol’s there are in London…”

He trailed off, knowing that he was digging himself a massive verbal hole. He hadn’t meant to sound so surprised at hearing her name, but considering not too long ago she was going on a date with his co-worker, Bobby certainly hadn’t expected her to be talking to Elinor.

“Right,” she didn’t seem too impressed by his explanation, “How do you know her then?”

“Uhhh…”

Was it really a good time to tell her the truth at her own birthday party? She already seemed pretty upset, was he going to make it worse?

She stared at him with such an intensity it made him crack after a few moments.

“I, uh, work with her girlfriend.”

And there was the pained expression.

“Oh. You work with Lily?”

“Yeah…”

Elinor looked away for a moment, as if she was contemplating whether to reply, before she let out a soft sigh, “I see. Um, that’s actually what we were arguing about.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he said quickly, “It’s really none of my business…”

“No, it’s fine. It’ll be cathartic,” a small smile flickered upon her lips, before disappearing as quickly as it appeared, “Basically, the story is that I like Marisol. A lot.”

“As in…?”

“As in, I like like her,” she rolled her eyes at the juvenile expression, and Bobby chuckled a little, “And she was meant to come tonight.”

“I’m guessing she didn’t?”

“She told me she was too busy with work, but then plastered her date with her girlfriend all over her Snapchat story,” Elinor sighed once more, “I know I shouldn’t be upset, because obviously she’s going to choose her girlfriend over me, but… I don’t know, I just am.”

“Because she’s on a date?”

“Because she didn’t tell me the truth. I’m not under any illusions that she has any feelings for me, because I know she doesn’t, but she knows I like her, and she knows I can handle rejection, so why wouldn’t she just tell me?”

Bobby looked over at her. This was the most vulnerable he’d ever seen Elinor be. Maybe it was the alcohol that was lowering her walls, or maybe she cared about him enough to confide in him; either way, he wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.

“I don’t know,” he sighed, “But I’m sorry that she lied to you, that was a shitty thing to do even if she doesn’t like you in that way.”

She sat back in her seat, her eyes gazing up at the sky, “It was. I can’t stand liars, but I guess this’ll be the thing that finally helps me get over her.”

“Good!” he proclaimed, holding up his half-empty whisky glass that he’d brought upstairs with him as if to cheers that statement, and Elinor let out a soft laugh.

“I guess it is.”

It definitely was in his book. Even though he’d been told he had no chance with her, the fact that she was so willing to tell him about her and Marisol made him wonder whether she liked him more than she let on. That thought certainly wasn’t doing a lot to help him get over her, anyway.

A comfortable silence descended over them, leaving Bobby to wonder what his next move was going to be. Now that he knew there was never going to be anything between Elinor and Marisol - at least, not for a loooong time - he felt a little emboldened to try to make a move on her. And, if it went wrong, he could absolutely laugh it off… right?

“Why did you even like her anyway?” he asked, breaking the silence, “No offence but she’s kind of boring.”

Elinor shot him a look that made him regret his words, before sighing, resting her chin on the palms of her hands.

“Because she’s my type. Obviously.”

“And that is…?” Not like Tim hadn’t already told him, but he wanted to hear it from her, to see just how much of a chance he really had.

Her eyes scanned his face, squinting a little as she tried to work out his motivations. Bobby tried to play it cool, taking small sip of his whisky. In all honesty, he wasn’t the biggest fan of Jack Daniels, but it wasn’t like any London-based house party was going to involve proper Scottish whisky, so he decided to make do with what he had. It was better than that concoction he’d seen Gary downing earlier, anyway.

“I guess someone who’s smart and dependable. Someone with a good career,” she answered finally, her brown eyes still trained on him, “I’ve always seen myself as having the whole ‘white picket fence’ lifestyle in the future, so someone who I can buy a house with and have two kids and a dog. You know that you’re going to have a stable, happy life with them, even if it can be a little boring at times. That’s my type to a tee.”

He was a little surprised at her admission that Marisol _would_ be a boring option, but he wasn’t about to disagree with her. The rest of what she said made sense and didn’t surprise him in the slightest; she was a classy lady, so whoever she ended up with had to meet those standards. He supposed a lawyer would do that just fine.

“Your type does sound super boring,” he settled on finally, earning him another look from her and a playful whack on the arm.

“Well, you’re annoying,” she retorted, but he could tell she wasn’t entirely serious, and so he just shot her a winning smirk.

“I know. You love it.”

“Not at all,” There was a slight hint of laughter in her voice, which made Bobby grin, before silence once more fell over them.

The wind blew gently through her hair, a few strands errantly flowing into her eyes. He fought the urge to move them away, instead choosing to focus on his drink as he mentally worked on his game plan.

“Well, maybe you need something new,” he began after a moment’s pause, “Someone not so dependable and boring.”

“What, like you?” Elinor snorted, and he tried to suppress his hurt at her incredulous tone of voice…

It definitely didn’t work. “Why not?”

She looked at him then, cheek resting on her hand as her eyes scanned his face, “Didn’t you hear me before when I called you annoying?”

“Maybe annoying’s exactly what you need. Don’t knock it til you try it,” he waggled his eyebrows, and her eyes rolled so far back into her head he could only see the whites of her eyes.

“I think I’m good,” she looked away once more, straightening up from her hunched over position. Normally Bobby wouldn’t push the subject anymore, especially knowing how serious she was in what she was saying, but he was a few drinks down and, honestly, her words had only made him want to prove how wrong she was. Alcohol definitely did strange things for his confidence, with exhibit A being how willing he’d been to snog Cherry’s face off in front of a bunch of people and then walk around with her lipstick all over him afterwards. This was about to be exhibit B…

“How about we make a bet?” he began, a mischievous look on his face. He had no idea if this was going to work, or if it was going to completely destroy any trust between them, but Bobby figured he’d never know unless he tried.

“Oh, here we go,” another eye roll.

“Just hear me out!”

She groaned, “Fine, but I don’t like the sound of this bet.”

“It’s just an innocent bet! Three rounds of rock paper scissors. If I win best out of three, you have to let me kiss you- “

“Absolutely not.”

“You didn’t even let me finish! If I win, you have to let me kiss you, on the cheek if you want, but if you win, you can pick my punishment.”

He was being incredibly bold in asking for even just a cheek kiss without the guarantee of getting it, but he hoped that the rest of his offer would entice her just enough. Elinor raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow at him, pondering the deal for a moment.

“Hmm. Why do you want me to kiss you so bad, Bobby?” she asked suspiciously, “Don’t tell me you actually have a crush on me?”

Busted, but he wasn’t going to let her know that.

“Nope. I just think that you need to try kissing someone who isn’t your usual type. Plus, you never know, I might be the one to help you get over your crush on Marisol.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, and even though she rolled her eyes, it genuinely seemed like she was considering it.

“As if. But, alright, since you’re so persistent, you’ve got a deal,” she replied after a moment, shifting a little closer to him, and he felt his breath catch in his throat, “But I warn you, it won’t be pretty if you lose.”

“That’s a chance I’m willing to take,” his eyes met hers, and he tried to seem absolutely resolute in his reply, although from the evil glint in her eye, he could tell she wasn’t kidding. Was he in over his head already?

“You’re on McKenzie,” she smirked, “Alright, are we revealing on scissors or after scissors?”

“On scissors, obviously,” he rolled his eyes playfully, and she just raised her other eyebrow in response, “Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Rock, paper… scissors!”

Bobby groaned as Elinor laid her palm flat, whilst his was bunched into a fist. Things were not off to a good start.

“Paper covers rock!” the brunette grinned smugly, “That’s one nil to me so far.”

“Still time to pull it back,” Bobby muttered, “Again.”

“Alriiiiight, but remember what I said about if you lose.”

“How could I forget?” he groaned again, “Okay, rock, paper… scissors!”

This time, Bobby was scissors, and Elinor had once more chosen paper. He let out a victory cry as he mimed cutting through her hand.

“One all now,” he grinned, “Better get your chapstick out lass.”

“Like you said, there’s still time to pull it back,” she responded coolly, but he could sense a little hint of panic in her eyes, which only made him even more smug.

“We’ll see. Last round, winner takes all,” he moved his hand back into a fist again, and she did the same, “Rock, paper… scissors!”

He closed his eyes as he selected rock again, just praying that she hadn’t gone for paper once more.

“Bollocks.”

Bobby opened his eyes and looked at their hands. She’d changed it up and gone with scissors. He’d won.

“Holy shit,” he smirked, looking back at her, “Pucker up Wilson.”

Elinor’s cheeks flushed red, her mouth slightly agape, and for a moment he thought she was about to back out completely. And, as much as he didn’t want her to… he’d respect that. He knew getting her to kiss him, even just on the cheek, was a long shot anyway.

“Okay,” she muttered after a few seconds, and his eyes widened slightly, “But only a kiss, got it? I’m not snogging you.”

He nodded rapidly, shocked that she’d even considered it, “I mean, if you want, I can just kiss you on the cheek, like I said…”

“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes, “If I’m going to be punished for losing this juvenile bet, I’m going to do it properly.”

Bobby nodded again, suddenly terrified at the fact that in a matter of seconds he was actually going to be kissing Elinor. When he’d thought up the bet, he thought it was going to be a long shot that she even agreed, and that maybe she’d get a laugh out of him even asking. Now she was insisting upon kissing him properly… he could feel the pressure mounting.

“Then, sure sure, just a little kiss. No snogging.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him, “Nervous, Bobby?”

He sucked in his breath, puffing his chest out a little, “Not at all! Bring it on!”

“Good, I wouldn’t want you to be nervous,” she winked at him, “After all, this was your idea.”

“I know,” he replied, “Let’s do this.”

“Let’s.”

He watched her closely, unsure of whether he should make the first move, but his question was answered when she contorted her face into an exaggerated puckering motion. Bobby let out an incredulous laugh, shocked at seeing the normally so uptight Elinor make such a strange expression. She opened her eyes for a moment to roll them, before closing them once more.

“Just get it over with,” she muttered, puckering up again. Bobby just nodded again, shuffling a little closer, unable to believe this was actually happening. He was going to kiss Elinor, and she was just going to… let him? It didn’t really seem real, but he wasn’t about to pinch himself until _after_ his lips left hers, and so he gently moved his hand to her cheek, leaning in a little. Pausing for a moment, he took a deep breath, before placing his lips on hers in a gentle kiss. After a moment of incredibly awkward lip-to-lip contact, he felt her loosen up under his touch, and… start to kiss him back?

_Woah._

Before he could get too ahead of himself, he broke away, remembering their agreement. As soon as his lips left hers, Elinor’s eyes snapped open, staring straight into his, as if she was shocked at what had just happened. He stared back, unsure of what to do next. Had they really just done that?

And then, just as he was getting over his shock and formulating some sort of witty reply to break the tension that had settled between them, her lips were on his again, and she was kissing him, properly. Bobby froze for a moment, before he came to his senses and eagerly began to reciprocate, his hands cupping her face and pulling her closer, whilst hers tangled in his dreads.

Hoooooooly shit. He was kissing Elinor Wilson – no, he was _snogging_ Elinor Wilson, and she was snogging him back.

_What the hell?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ❤️ Any comments or kudos are always welcome, thank you so much for reading! ❤️


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